As elders assume their responsibility for the spiritual maturity of God's people, they affect the growth of the ,kingdom. The accountability for the financial and doctrinal needs of the church might be more obvious than the spiritual and growth needs of the church. Since time and resources are so limited, elders are tempted to be satisfied with managing the "necessities." In fact, growth could be discouraged because it only adds to the other burdens. Like fathers who try to support their family with very little money and struggle from one crisis to another, elders can assume a roof over the church's head and "good food" is all that is necessary. All they want is peace and quiet when they get home from a hard day at work.

Managing the family and the church

Of the qualifications that Paul directed Timothy to look for when he appointed elders to take care of God's church, the ability to manage their homes well seemed so appropriate (I Timothy 3:5). Even in our own day, men who are dictators or uninvolved at home can usually expect serious problems in their marriage and with their children. Good dads have an open, understanding relationship with their children. They can approach problems with confidence. While firm, they are also very understanding and encouraging. However, if a man did not have a good father, he really has to struggle to be open and understanding. The same has happened in churches where a closed leadership for several generations left non-evangelistic, non-growing churches.

Churches that are growing numerically experience as much change as a family that grows. Routines, expenses, housing, and work assignments change with regularity when a family grows from two children to five. Wise fathers want to do more than meet the physical needs of their children. Strong leadership is needed in the family for each child to mature and feel loved. While some of the power of that leadership relates to an ordained role in the family, the spiritual effectiveness of godly parents develops through openness, relationship, and example.

Approximately one in five churches are growing numerically today. Kirk Hadaway, in Church Growth Principles (1991), identified growing churches as evangelistic, more innovative than traditional, more purposeful than drifting, willing to change, focusing on the spiritual growth of the members, emphasizing prayer, and ministering to the community. These are also characteristic of the leaders in these churches. As the attitude of the father sets the mood in the home, so the style of leadership can provide the infrastructure for church growth today.

Apathy and status-quo are much more characteristic of declining churches than zeal and evangelism. Elders are frustrated by the decrease in volunteerism and the increase of diversity in the church. It seems that very few members will actively take the initiative in serving or maintaining unity. Elders feel like most of their time is consumed by problems in the church. To address these crises they tighten controls, which only increases the tensions. They are not sure very many are even following them. On the other hand, members are frustrated because they feel they have to get permission for whatever they do. A crisis management style of leadership will discourage involvement more than encourage it. In such an environ ment, evangelism and growth become distant if not impossible goals.

If the church actually functions by the priesthood of all believers, the bishops will not be the only leaders. In a healthy family, the father is not the only one responsible for the family. The mother has responsibilities that are equally important. Leadership will not be limited to one person or an official role. It will be a dynamic process in which the whole family participates. In the church, every Christian has some responsibility to influence God's people toward His purposes for that group. Everyone will assume some responsibility for the growth process. 'Me elders oversee the direction of growth by encouraging faithfulness to Christ and nurturing the spiritual development of each member. In dysfunctional churches, the leaders become very sensitive and defensive. The elders are not open to the critique of ft members (or anyone else).

If the growth pattern of the congregation has plateaued or declined for five to ton years, such factors as the age of the church, changing community, frequent change of preachers, inadequateness of the facilities, and apathetic attitudes of the members could be reasons for the lack of growth. However, these problems have been addressed in growing churches.

An open style of leadership has turned problems into opportunities for growth. The issue of leadership style will have to be addressed by the elders themselves. If an eldership wants the church to grow, it cannot ignore the way it leads the church. If the style of leadership has become closed or at least some members perceive the elders to be closed, the following three steps may help change the direction of the church.

1. Maximize trust and minimize controls

The principle of expectation states that people tend to rise to the level of expectation. As the attitude of a father toward his child has direct effect on the child's self-confidence, leaders can inspire or discourage followers to participate. In The Human Side of Enterprise (1960), Douglas McGregor identified two styles of leadership as Theory X and Theory Y.

Theory X leaders are closed, very directive, and maintain tight controls. Some elders may admit that the ideal is to have the church involved but the practical "real" world demands strong decision makers. Bob Reely applied McGregor's theory to church leadership in his recent book, Assessing Twenty-First Century Christian Leadership (1993).The "X" style would assume Christians are lazy, prefer to do little in the church, need to be shown the proper methods of service, and need to be driven to serve.

In contrast, Theory Y leaders are open, seek the participation of the group, and share responsibilities. The "Y" style assumes Christians are naturally active, enjoy being challenged to meet goals, care about what they do enough to devise their own methods of serving, are capable of assuming responsibilities and need to be released to serve (Reely, p. 35-38).

According to McGregor, leadership assumptions become self-fulfilling prophecies. Unless their assumptions change, elders will be so burdened with all the business of the church that their focus on the direction, evangelism, and spiritual nurturing will be lost.

2. Encourage the participation of every member

Businesses are down-sizing and de-layering in order to increase productivity and effectiveness. A healthy family enjoys the sharing of responsibilities and each member knows what needs to be done before tasks have to be assigned. A closed leadership assigns each task and controls all activities. Although managing a business is much different from leading a family or church, some principles prevail in both contexts.

In The Managerial Grid (1985) Robert Blake and Jane Mouton identify two dimensions of organizational leadership that apply to the growth potential of a church. These two dimensions are the concern for people (keeping everyone happy) and the concern for productivity (change and growth). They argue that the goal is a team effort in which all share a common concern and commitment. On a scale of 1-9, a true team effort scores a "9" on concern for people and a "9" on concern for productivity.

Roy Nance, an elder in Pennsylvania, applied this grid to church leadership in an article in Gospel Advocate (March 4, 1982, p. 134). When leaders have a concern for keeping people happy (9) but little concern for growth (1), they avoid conflicts at all cost and lack a clearly defined biblical direction. 'Me other extreme is just as common. Leaders can be so threatened by the winds of change that they develop a closed style of leadership. Because they do not trust the members, they do not allow congregational meetings, make decisions without input from the members, and stress themes like submission and unity. Such an inward focus will not develop a new generation of leaders. The longer a church goes without new or younger elders, the greater the distance the leadership grows from the congregation and the more the elders bear all the responsibility. This style of leadership frustrates members because they cannot develop or use their gifts. Nance concludes that this situation often leads to a split where the talented members leave or to a revolt against the elders.

Like parents who hopelessly try to keep all their children happy, most elderships drift into a status-quo style in an effort to cope with the diversity in the church. Keeping the 44 peace" becomes the prime indicator of spirituality more than evangelism, discipline, and growth. The leadership in these churches is described as "middle of the road," scoring a "5" on concern for people and a "5" on concern for growth. Nance is of the opinion that the majority of the elders in the church today use this style of leadership. They make too many of the decisions, fail to delegate, resist new approaches even though they are scriptural, and do not develop new leaders.

3. Delegate responsibilities rather than tasks.

Evidence of an open style of leadership can be found in the degree that responsibility in various ministries is delegated. In a Theory X leadership, elders assume that they delegate but they actually give only minor tasks, keep close controls, fail to give adequate directions for accomplishing the task, and may not provide enough time or resources to complete the task. A deacon will be assigned a task but become frustrated and angered when he finds out that an elder completed the task without any notification. The elder kept the responsibility and assigned the task. 'Me deacon thought he was given the responsibility. This is a "jam-up."

In an article on "Who is Doing the Delegating?" (Sky, November, 1993) Richard Westlund suggests the following might be done to avoid these "jam-ups:" be sure the one with the assignment understands his role, set realistic deadlines, explain the reasons behind the task, and review the progress. Give the responsibility along with the task.

For example, when a deacon is given the responsibility for developing a small group ministry, he will know why the church needs small groups, be assured of the support of the elders, and will be given at least a year to start the groups. When people complain, they go to that deacon, not over him.

So what does a dad do when he realizes he has been to closed and distant from his children? The good news is that children can be forgiving. I believe churches are just as forgiving. But, for elders to work closer with the congregation they will seek spiritual resources they did not need in a closed leadership. To be effective and productive, Peter would encourage leaders to continually increase in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5-9). As they grow spiritually, the kingdom grows.

FOOTNOTES.

Evertt Huffard presents part I of a three part series on leadership. He begins by helping us see the analogy between a good family leader and an effective church leader.