"A leading management consultant advises clergy to concentrate on their commission to preach and counsel. Ministers should be relieved of management activities."
WHAT A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT TELLS THE CHURCHES
Pastors Should be Free for Theological Reflection and Evangelism
By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News Service
MUNICH (ANS) -- A leading management consultant advises clergy to concentrate on their commission to preach and counsel. Ministers should be relieved of management activities, says Peter F. Barrenstein, German director of McKinsey & Company.
He recommends that local churches hire an executive to take care of managerial and administrative tasks. Pastors should be free for theological reflection and evangelism.
Neither should they be restricted to serving a small “core congregation” of faithful worshippers. “They should develop a counter strategy to a shrinking church”, Barrenstein emphasized in an interview with the German evangelical news agency idea.
Churches are surrounded by other missionary competitors, he explained. In Germany, for instance, Islam, cults and the recreation industry register continual growth, while most churches are losing members.
Barrenstein rejects the notion that mission is a thing of the past. There are in fact many missionary opportunities, for example caring for the bereaved. If a pastor delivers an excellent funeral sermon and continues to visit and comfort the mourners, this could result in people re-joining a church.
But, adds Barrenstein, he has often encountered incompetent and ill-prepared pastors at burials. In his experience commercial funeral home directors often do a better job. .
Barrenstein is an active Lutheran himself. On his initiative McKinsey conducted an extensive survey of Protestant churches in Munich about ten years ago. This started a lively debate about the question which management concepts could be helpful for churches.
The management consultant makes one thing clear: “The church is not a commercial venture.” The aim of bringing people to faith in Christ could never be achieved by management techniques. Barrenstein: “That is the job of the Holy Spirit.”
Wolfgang Polzer (54), is senior news editor of the Evangelical News Agency idea, Wetzlar (Germany), which he joined in 1981. His previous work included four years in the editorial department of the Salvation Army in Germany. In all, he has spent 27 years in Christian media. Wolfgang can be contacted by e-mail at: Wolfgang.Polzer@idea.de.