Applying management theory to the local church

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the application of management theory to the local church, with a view to identifying: (i) the critical questions to be asked of any particular aspect of management theory so that the local church may assess its potential usefulness; (ii) those areas of management theory which appear to have most - and least - to offer the local church. The study begins by exploring both the nature and aims of the local church and the content of contemporary management theory. From this emerge two findings; 1. At its simplest, contemporary management theory might be seen as comprising eight areas of particular interest to the local church: Continuous Learning; Coherence; Committed Leadership; Continuous Adaptation and Improvement; Common Language; Co-ordination through Teamwork; Commitment to Action; and, Customer Orientation. These areas, or key themes, are initially identified in terms of their location within what might loosely be called the organizational process, then each is further explored.2. When applying management theory to the local church, there are three critical questions to be asked, each of which has an ethical dimension: (i) Is it good management theory? (ii) Is it good theology?(iii) Does it fit the local church's self-understanding? Further work is needed, both in the appropriate application of these eight 'key themes' or 'areas', and to fill out all that is implied by the three critical questions. To summarise: 1. Discretion and discrimination are necessary if management theory is to be appropriately applied to the local church.2. Given '1', management theory can be usefully applied to the local church.3. This study outlines a potentially effective approach to such application.