One of the books I'm currently reading is Challenging The Church Monster by Douglas Bixby. Here is an insightful post from Bixby's blog that points to a central theme of his book:One of the things I like to say to other ministers going through difficult times is that “churches are strange.” Some times it is hard to understand why things happen the way they happen in our churches. And I am convinced that it is not usually bad people, but rather bad structure that is at fault.
Many of our churches have complicated systems that are hard to understand. This can lead pastors into complicated situations that are hard to handle.
Many times the people in these situations (including the pastor) are set up for disaster. Simplifying our church systems can help us to simplify some of these situations.
Our churches should not be filled with chaos and confusion. The system should allow us to deal with issues and each other in a straight forward manner. This is why my general advice is to simplify.
