It’s a hard lesson of ministry. It’s a lesson I’m still learning.
But it’s true nonetheless.
Addition By Subtraction.
On many occasions, the best way to strengthen a church’s impact & effectiveness is to lessen the number of things a church actually does.
When a church forgoes ancillary ministries, it is then better able to focus all of its energy and creativity on those ministries that are central to its purpose.
And here’s the truth: it’s much easier to start a church with this mindset than it is to transition a church into it. People devote their time and resources into certain areas of ministry, and it can be frankly painful to discover those ministries are no longer core to the mission of the church.
One of my favorite analogies is this: you can’t buy a hamburger at Chick Fil-A. They do what they do and they do it (in my opinion) brilliantly. But they don’t do what they don’t do.
So at our church we try to be diligent in harnessing our energy and creativity towards those things that really are central to Walking Together: worship, relationships, and mission. By God’s grace, as we’ve become slightly less “busy,” we’ve become slightly more effective.
It’s ministry math.
Addition by subtraction.