Buzzards, Committees, and Church Structure
You know how different groups of animals have different names? A group of flamingoes are called flamboyants. Bees are swarms. Cattle are herds. Sheep are flocks. Fish are schools. I love the name for a group of buzzards that gorge themselves on roadkill: a committee.
We've always been very intentional at NCC about trying to avoid unhealthy and unnecessary bureacracy. I'm not saying all committees are bad. But so many church committees lose sight of the Great Commission and become circles where people gossip and vent.
We had a meeting of our Executive Leadership Team last night and I couldn't help but rejoice over how healthy and purposeful our conversation was. It feels nothing like a committee in the buzzard sense of the word :)
We have a somewhat unique structure at NCC. For example, we don't discriminate between staff and non-staff when it comes to the leadership positions. We're actually a mix of full-time staff and non-staff. It just never made sense to me why you wouldn't allow someone to serve as an elder capacity simply because they are trained and called to serve God full-time. At the same time, I really value the perspective that our non-staff members bring because it gives us peripheral vision.
We've always been very intentional at NCC about trying to avoid unhealthy and unnecessary bureacracy. I'm not saying all committees are bad. But so many church committees lose sight of the Great Commission and become circles where people gossip and vent.
We had a meeting of our Executive Leadership Team last night and I couldn't help but rejoice over how healthy and purposeful our conversation was. It feels nothing like a committee in the buzzard sense of the word :)
We have a somewhat unique structure at NCC. For example, we don't discriminate between staff and non-staff when it comes to the leadership positions. We're actually a mix of full-time staff and non-staff. It just never made sense to me why you wouldn't allow someone to serve as an elder capacity simply because they are trained and called to serve God full-time. At the same time, I really value the perspective that our non-staff members bring because it gives us peripheral vision.
3 Comments:
And a herd of rhinos is called a crash!
fresh perspective! i think those committees get so full of themselves that they lose their spirit driven heart. i hope to attend ncc someday.
Joel,
You've read Erwin McManus too :) I love this reference in The Barbarian Way!
Mark
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