101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches. John Nelson

and choose wisely.

      Business Perspective: Successful business managers understand that there is no single management style and that there is the opportunity to draw from a variety of management styles. They realize that there is a wealth of management knowledge to be discovered through historical and academic study which allows the manager to situationally select the most appropriate management approach.

      The body of knowledge commonly known as management first appeared during the 800-year period following the time of St Thomas Aquinas, c 1226–74, a Dominican monk canonized in 1323, who argued that reason and faith were compatible. Its place in that phase is a way of indicating its character. The period was marked by a rebellion against or a rejection of theology or even an entire disregard of it.

      One of the first to break the chain of the ties of scholasticism was Machiavelli in the field of politics. The next was Galileo in relation to astronomy; the contention between him and the Church is widely known; so is the instance of Darwin in the field of life sciences. Others grew up unnoticed by the Church such as Descartes in philosophy; so too were such subjects as economics, psychology and sociology. Alongside these was management.

      It emerged as a sequel to the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, though under the name of Onward Industry. Management writers Mooney and Reilly have traced the awareness of management to preceding centuries in the military and to preceding millennia to the building of the pyramids. It grew up without any reference to theology though the Church occasionally expressed reservations about the nature of the new society. Witness the hymn ‘Jerusalem’ and its reference to ‘those dark satanic mills’; and there were the Tolpuddle Martyrs too.

      Nor did the Church lay claim to management or to any of the other subjects that arose in this phase of history. The Roman Catholic Church in 1870 in the first Vatican Council echoed the voices of all the churches in defining its area of interest as ‘matters of faith and morals’. That was all it had left from the time when theology was the queen of the sciences at the time of Aquinas. Since then its range has diminished to matters of sex and reproduction. Hence the Church of today has no claim to or interest in matters of management.

      There was a further factor which closed out any interest in the subject. The view of management at the time of the Industrial Revolution became deeply ingrained in people’s understanding, so much so that the prevailing view of management came to be called the classical form of management. Another title according to the social scientist Weber was the bureaucratic form; while a term such as mechanistic was also used to reveal even more clearly the precise nature of what was conceived as management.

      This view of management became so ingrained in the unconscious memory of the whole population and not just the scholars that even the most removed from the field had absorbed its universal qualities and used this form of control without even recognizing its source or character.

      Anybody who wanted to manage anything was innately equipped with a never-failing source of guidance that was in the Church also. Church leaders along with everyone else expressed in their actions this innate awareness of the way to go. Some who became aware of its harshness took up an alternative and opposite line through the human relations approach which is considered to be a much more humane way. But still the mechanistic view remained hidden, but often operative, in spite of the apparent gloss on the human relations side. It’s no wonder that the Church has seen no need for any reliance on management. It was innately there.

      For reflection and discussion

      1 What is your understanding of the word management?

      2 What value is there in exploring the range of management styles that have come down to us through history?

      3 What aspects of management do you think could be of most benefit in growing healthy churches?

      4 What aspects of management do you feel have no place in the church?

      Great Idea 19: Be Personally Effective

      MALCOLM GRUNDY

      If anyone sets his heart on being a leader, they desire a noble task

      1 Timothy 3.1

      Top Tip: You can fool some of the people some of the time but you shouldn’t be seeking to fool them at all.

      Business Perspective: Successful organizations understand that all their members are intuitive and creative individuals. They know and understand the organization through its leaders and managers. To assume anything less of them will impact on profitability. Customers are also intuitive and make choices about which organizations they will support. This demands that organizational leaders and managers follow an ethical and moral vision.

      Lead with integrity

      The most important ingredient in effective leadership is integrity. People will not follow you if they can see through you and your policies.

      They will be inspired if they can see into who you are and why you do what you say. Leadership with integrity has to be done in a way that allows leaders to be true to themselves and the work that they have been called to undertake.

      Show you are committed

      All leadership requires vision and commitment. Jesus led with integrity into the most difficult of places. He spoke of people not looking or turning back once they had put their hand to the plough. All those who take up new work wonder at some time if they have done the right thing. The job is never completely as described.

      The people you work with, God’s gift in that place, are never quite as they appeared at first, but neither are the opportunities and the rewards. Pieces of work done with others in a committed and trusting atmosphere bring surprising and greater returns. This is the effective atmosphere in which committed people can feel God’s Spirit at work.

      Be true to yourself

      Effective personal leadership brings a sense of well-being. A leader with vision can be caricatured and undermined by critics who do not share the vision. Reactions have to demonstrate inclusiveness and the will and ability to listen to comment and criticism. Integrity can be known and understood through a sense of well-being. God was well pleased when Jesus was commissioned for ministry at his baptism. The Bible uses the same word for God’s pleasure and blessing at the scene of the transfiguration. Those whom God calls he also blesses with skills and abilities.

      There are the varieties of gifts that Paul speaks of and which are present in every Christian community. Effective leaders use their own gifts to mobilize and liberate the gifts of others.

      Know when to go

      Leadership with integrity also demands the wisdom to know when to end a piece of work and when to leave a post or a church. Jesus warned that not everyone will always be welcomed in every community. Different skills are needed at different times and not all policies and personalities fit every situation. Occasionally the time comes to ‘shake the dust off one’s feet’ and go to another place. Effectiveness and integrity can be shown in appropriate endings and in choosing not to avoid difficult decisions.

      Listen and learn

      The measure of effectiveness is in open and trusting consultation. Leaders who listen, consult and who explain their decisions have the potential to be effective and to make many people feel they are in the right place at the right time.

      For reflection and discussion

      1 What is a leader?

      2 What kind of leader was Jesus?

      3 How is the leadership style of Jesus represented in your church?

      4 How is the leadership style of Jesus represented in your own life?

      Great Idea 20: Be Witnesses in the Workplace

      JOHN NELSON

      The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few

      Matthew 9.37

      Top Tip: Go to the customer, don’t wait for the