How Management, Leadership, and Stewardship Guide Your Church

Management, leadership, and stewardship drive a church’s success in different but complementary ways.

• Church management is the practical execution of daily tasks.

• Leadership is about inspiring a spiritual vision for the congregation as a whole and for each individual.

• Stewardship is the responsible management of all entrusted resources as a sacred duty.

	Management	Leadership	Stewardship
FOCUS	Day-to-day operations, systems, and processes	Vision, inspiration, and spiritual direction	Responsible and faithful management of all entrusted resources
ACTIVITIES	Budgeting, payroll, facility maintenance, staff performance management, and ensuring compliance with policies	Preaching, teaching, pastoral care, mentoring, and building relationships	Managing God's resources responsibly, which includes time, talent, and material assets to further God's purposes
GOAL	Efficiency and order in achieving organizational objectives	Heartfelt commitment and spiritual growth among congregants by inspiring them toward a shared vision	To honor God by managing what has been entrusted to the church in a way that ensures long-term sustainability, purpose, and the well-being of all stakeholders
FIRST PRINCIPLE	Administer	Enhance	Evolution
PRIMARY WORK	Organizing resources	Directing people	Transforming organizations / congregations
POWER DYNAMIC	Hierarchical	Heroic	Shared
IN MODERN CHURCHES	Needed, but often misapplied	Needed, but overused	Always essential

Effective church ministry requires both leadership and management, all under the umbrella of stewardship. Leaders need to be good managers of resources, and managers need to be led by a spiritual vision. A person can be a leader in one area and a manager in another, but a true leader also acts as a steward over the people they lead.

Churches that are thriving right now have leaders who direct, inspire, and steward.

Adapted from The Ready