THE STARFISH AND THE SPIDER

Since I read The Shack a couple of weeks ago I have revisited some of my concerns and reservations about the the strategy and structure of today's typical church.

Last week an old friend of mine visited me for a few days. Inevitably our conversation turned to the church. My friend, a seminary graduate and former pastor, has been very pessimistic about the organized and institutional church for many years. Even though he has sought to find satisfaction and service in house churches for over 25 years, he seems to have one frustrating or disappointing experience after another.

Then tonight I read an interesting post by Tony Morgan. Tony is Chief Strategic Officer at NewSpring Church, a dynamic, growing fellowship that is multiplying in South Carolina. Below are his comments.

I just finished reading The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. It’s a challenging book because it looks at the value of decentralized organizations. For churches, that’s essentially unchartered territory. Here are some of the highlights that challenged me:

· “It’s not that open systems necessarily make better decisions. It’s just that they’re able to respond more quickly because each member has access to knowledge and the ability to make direct use of it.”

· “Because the decentralized organization mutates so quickly, it can also grow incredibly quickly.”

· “Centralized organizations depend more on structure, and that tends to make them more rigid.”

· “Ideology is the glue that holds decentralized organizations together.”

· “A catalyst…is someone who every time they have a conversation with someone they’re actively thinking, How can I help this person? Who can I introduce this person to? I just want to help this person, I just want to make this person better.“

· “When confronted with an aggressive push, most people shut down and become even less likely to change.”

· “You don’t follow a catalyst because you have to–you follow a catalyst because he understands you.”

· “In a command-and-control environment, you can closely track what everyone is doing, but being watched and monitored makes employees less likely to take risks and innovate.”

· “Great ideas come from people who are closest to the ideas.”

· “The more the network grows, the more useful it becomes, and the more likely it is that customers will stay put.”

· “Each manager was empowered to make critical decisions while the executive team took on more of a catalyst role. The executive team primarily made suggestions about strategy and gently coaxed the division leaders.”

· The “sweet spot?” Create “enough decentralization for creativity, but sufficient structure and controls to ensure consistency.”

· “It’s important to realize that when the rules of the game suddenly change…it’s easy to be left behind. We’re used to having things operate in a certain way. We learn the rules and don’t anticipate radical change.”

· “Institute order and rigid structure, and while you may achieve standardization, you’ll also squelch creativity. Where creativity is valuable, learning to accept chaos is a must.”

· “Catalysts connect people and maintain the drumbeat of the ideology.”

I’m wondering if there’s a balance somewhere that allows us to acknowledge Truth, one God and ordained leaders while at the same time embracing the “priesthood of believers” and the power of a more decentralized model.

Personally, I think the first church to get this right will become the largest church in the country. What might it look like:

· Leaders probably won’t be appointed, they’ll be identified.

· People won’t be assigned to teams and groups, they’ll gather and serve around existing relational connections.

· Churches or campuses won’t be planted, they’ll birth on their own when one person grabs the mission, vision and values of the church and that spawns a new community.

· Making disciples won’t be the church’s responsibility, it’ll be the believer’s responsibility.

What would happen if we stopped thinking in terms of growing a church and started thinking in terms of launching a movement? How would our structures and strategies change?

After reading Tony's comments several times I thought about my experiences over the years. When I was a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ, I believe the organization modeled virtually all these ideas and principles ... and grew exponentially!

The dynamics of serving and living among the people of Big Canoe Chapel also followed some of those principles. Our Chaplain, Dr. Jimmy Allen, often said, "we may not be efficient but we are effective." He also reminded me it was not the number of hours of work that mattered most, but the availability to serve people.