What is the structure of your Sports Ministry through which you pursue your ministry mission?
This is another of those questions that I often ask Sports Ministers. Over the years, the answers I hear break down into three categories that match up with the skeletal structures of the animal kingdom.
Too little—There is no structure to facilitate movement to mission—Invertebrate (no skeleton)
Too much—The structure inhibits movement toward mission—Exoskeleton (external skeleton)
Just right—The structure empowers the ministry to accomplish mission—Endoskeleton (internal skeleton)
Now imagine pictures of each:
Invertebrates – single-celled organisms, worms
Exoskeletons – crabs, snails, grasshoppers
Endoskeletons – reptiles, mammals birds
Which type of skeletal structure is the most mobile? The answer is obvious – endoskeleton.
Ask yourself. Ask others. How is our structure impacting mission? Is there not enough that we are preventing movement? Is there too much that we are restricting movement? Is there just the right amount that movement is maximized?
In part 2, we will look at a skeletal structure that facilitates such movement. For now, what type of skeletal structure does your ministry have?
About the Author
Bob Schindler has worked at CSO since 2003. Prior to coming to CSO, Bob worked as a pastor for 18 years - eight as an Associate Pastor in Leadership Development, Outreach, and Youth, and ten as a church planter and Senior Pastor. Before vocational ministry, Bob worked in business for six years in sales and marketing and corporate training and played professional golf for four years. He still has an interest in golf but would most of the time rather play basketball or rock climb or kayak - something more active than golf. He and his wife, Beth, have four grown "kids" and one very precious grandson.