Since coming aboard DCC I have gotten a number of questions dealing with my job title, Pastor of Family Life and Administration.  Many people ask, “what does administration have to do with ministry work?”, or “why do we need all these systems and policies?”  These are good questions and I’m glad they are being asked.  My hope is to use this blog to give you a behind the scenes picture of what it is that I do when I do what I do do (you just said doo-doo) and most importantly the why.

Today’s entry is starting with the all important question of why.  Why do we need procedure and policies when we haven’t needed them before?  DCC was fine for years, what has changed?

Mark Driscoll, in summarizing the transitions that the Acts29 church plants were going through writes:

“As a church grows, it has ceilings of complexity that have to be dealt with. Larry Osborne has the helpful analogy that as something grows the game changes from a decathlete doing it all, which is most church plants, to golfing foursome of buddies who work together as an informally organized team, a basketball team where the lead pastor functions as the point guard on every play, and football team with different coaches, specialized teams, and playbooks. Tim Keller, Lyle Schaller, and others have noted the kinds of transitions that happen as a church (or in our case network of churches) grows:

• Communication: It moves from informal and verbal to formal and written
• Leadership: It goes from many people to a handful of people making decisions
• Teams: It moves from one team to many teams
• Leaders: The teams can no longer be led by generalists, as every team is a team of specialists
• Financing: Everything gets more complicated and costs more money
• Planning: It takes much longer to plan events and changes because there are so many people and variables involved
• Organization: There is a stacking that must take place as a flat organizational chart leads to miscommunication, chaos, and confusion”

Whether you are a fan of Driscoll or not (some of you don’t seem to be a fan of anyone) this phrasing to me, hits the nail on the head with laser-like precision and allows for crystal clarity.

This is where we are here at DCC.  I picture us at that awkward teenage stage of growth.  We are gangly and still learning how to make all of our parts work as gracefully as we would like.  There are and will be growth pains.

We transitioned from a golfing foursome to the basketball team with the senior pastor acting as the point guard.  Soon we will be at the football team stage requiring a head coach, specialty coaches, QB, special teams, playbooks and a defensive captain (as opposed to defensive people in general) This is different for many of us at DCC but is a good thing.  But even more important, a God thing.  The message has not changed.  The growth (that God has sent) has however necessitated a change in our methods.

Getting married requires a change in one’s lifestyle.  Then having a child brings even more transition.  It requires maturity, growth and a more organized approach to everyday life.  The reality of the situation forces us to admit that it isn’t all about us as an individual anymore.  But these are good things.  We are growing, praise God! Growth pains no matter how difficult are always better than the pains that accompany a slow death.