Today’s Problem come from yesterday’s solutions

The business of the church is a very demanding business. It requires that the leadership be aware of the various needs that exist within the congregation. This is not referring to the spiritual need. This we will address in a subsequent post after class. But, whether this is going to be through research, data collection or just group synergy. “General, non-profit organizations can be crippled from an absence of dynamic thinking, which involves examining “how key variables brought a system to its existing state…and uses an understanding of the past to guide future initiatives” (Stewart, 2018). Just for clarity, we also view the church as a non-profit.

We have had hurricanes throughout the Caribbean, and one such occasion we had significant damages to several congregations. While it was easy to get funds to assist the church with remodeling and getting back on their feet, there wasn’t much done to put proper systems in place to recoup the funds. This resulted in cases where financial obligations weren’t met which almost result in legal actions. What was a solution for the past, resulted in problems for the year ahead.

The cure can be worse than the disease.
The challenge of the organization is that while there is a national executive over the body, it becomes increasingly a challenge as plans are laid out to move us forward. The cure that is provided is not necessarily the best fit for all. Each congregation operates within a different context and so we are required to take responsibility in applying these measures. We are required to shoulder our share of the organization’s responsibility, while being true to the context of finding the best solution (Senge, 2006)

The myth of the management team
There is a sense of grouping as during school we had covenant groups which was aligned with your year group. This was to create a team environment along with accountability. However, this team spills over into ministry where Teams spend much of their time fighting for turf, avoiding anything making them look bad, while pretending everyone is behind team strategies. (Senge, pp. 18-19) Their energies are mis-focused. Instead of focusing on solutions to the challenges at hand, they are focused inwardly toward grouping.

We are being called up to build a shared vision that will be used to mobilize the organization. “people who do not share the same vision might not contribute as much to the organization.”  (Senge). using the model suggested by Senge, w e must help our leadership team to understand the mental models, while learning as a team.

Reference:

Senge’s Five Disciplines of Learning Organizations. (2018, May 20). Retrieved October 20, 2018, from https://www.toolshero.com/management/five-disciplines-learning-organizations/

Senge, P. (2006). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday

Stewart, N., (2018, October 19)) Strategic Leadership Teams – Challenges, Opportunities and Design for Nonprofits. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://learn.twu.ca/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=34268