The Dynamics of Local Church

By Albert Benjamin Rockson

The church is the spiritual body of Christ as well as the community of believers in Christ. The church is a ministry with the divine mandate to preach the gospel of salvation, win souls for Christ and make disciples for Him. The leadership, the workers and the congregation of the local church need to understand the dynamics of local church operations and the interactions in the work of the ministry to effectively support the local church to achieve its divine mandate, vision and mission. This book provides the requisite information that serves as a guide to help every local church across denominations to achieve operational efficiency and effective work of the ministry. It covers the following issues:

Church Mandate

Church Ministries

Church Resources

Church Administration

Functional Structures and Systems

The author shares some practical knowledge and understanding of these issues from his ministry experience as a church leader and also as a church worker.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Benjamin Rockson
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9789988303068

Albert Benjamin Rockson

Albert Benjamin Rockson, III is a servant of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. His ministry passion is to support the local church across denominations to build administrative leadership capacity for operational efficiency and effective work of the ministry. He has rich experience with practical knowledge and understanding of local church administration and ministry operations. Dr. Rockson is a trained professional with relevant advance degrees and work experiences in scientific research administration, church administration and business administration. Dr. Rockson lives with his wife in Accra-Ghana and they have been blessed with two adult children and a granddaughter.

Book preview

THE DYNAMICS OF

LOCAL CHURCH OPERATIONS AND EFFECTIVE WORK OF THE MINISTRY

-An Experiential Exposition-

ALBERT BENJAMIN ROCKSON, III

Copyright 2020 © Albert Benjamin Rockson

All Rights Reserved

All scriptural references are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible unless otherwise stated.

No portion(s) of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-9988-3-0306-8

For any information on this book, please contact the author:

Dr. Albert Benjamin Rockson, III

ChurchAdmin Solutions,

P.O. Box KA 9172,

Airport-Accra,

Ghana.

Telephone: [phone]

[phone]

Email:  [e-mail]

Website: www.churchadmin-solutions.com

Publishers:  Ideal Press

Cover Designers: Ideal07 Innovate

Printers:  Nab Press

Table of Content

Dedication            i

Acknowledgements           ii

Operational Definitions          iii

Review           iv

Foreword           vi

Introduction            1

CHAPTER 1 - THE CHURCH

1.1  The Body of Christ          7

1.2  The Universal Church        8

1.3  The Local Church         9

1.4  Christ is Building His Church       11

1.5  Our Partnership with Christ       12

1.6  Local Church Operations         13

CHAPTER 2 - CHURCH MANDATE

2.1  The Great Commission        19

2.2  The Local Church Vision         22

2.3  The Local Church Mission         23

2.4  The Local Church Philosophy       24

CHAPTER 3 - CHURCH MINISTRIES

3.1  Area Ministry         31

3.2  Group Ministry         36

3.3  Ministry of Helps         38

3.4  Social Interventions        41

CHAPTER 4 - CHURCH RESOURCES

4.1  People          52

4.2  Money          57

4.3  Time           65

4.4  Space           70

4.5  Facilities          73

CHAPTER 5 - CHURCH ADMINISTRATION

5.1  Governance          80

5.2  Leadership          87

5.3  Management         91

CHAPTER 6 - FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS

6.1  Governance Structure        101

6.2  Administrative Structures and Systems       103

6.3  HR Policies and Procedures       108

6.4  Financial Management Structures and Systems     115

6.5  Ministry Support Structures and Systems      118

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List of Figures

Figure 1. The Local Church         14

Figure 2. Church Mandate         19

Figure 3. Church Ministries         30

Figure 4. Church Resources         50

Figure 5. Church Administration        80

Figure 6. Governance Structure        102

MY CONCLUDING THOUGHTS         121

REFERENCES            124

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my beloved wife, handsome son, beautiful daughter, enterprising son-in-law and gorgeous granddaughter who were all locked down with me [a´ la COVID-19 health and safety protocols] during which period I started compiling my notes for writing this book. I am indebted to them for their spiritual, emotional, moral and prayer support as well as their enduring love and encouragement. Above all, to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be all the glory, honour and thanksgiving for His grace, goodness, mercies, favour, strength, wisdom, and insight that enabled me to begin and to finish writing this book in the face of a global pandemic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the diverse contributions and support I received from my fellow volunteers and employees as well as the useful lessons I learnt serving the congregation in my local church. My appreciation goes to the Senior Pastorate and the leadership of my local church for giving me the cherished opportunity to serve full-time in administrative leadership in the church which helped build my capacity and equipped me for what I do now. I thank all my pastor friends who gave me the opportunity to share my knowledge and expertise with their church leaders and workers which gave me exposure and helped sharpen my skills to be a better servant in the Lord’s Vineyard. Above all, I thank the Lord for guiding me to translate my relevant experiences, knowledge and skills into this book.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

The Work of the Ministry. Activities of the local church in building up the body of Christ in the areas of prayer, praise, worship, fellowship, visitations, service, congregational care, soul-winning, evangelism, missions and outreach, Bible study and discipleship.

Church Leadership. Persons in ecclesiastical and administrative positions of authority in the local church. They include pastors, ministers, elders, deacons, council members, management teams, ministry and departmental heads, ministry group or team leaders. 

Church Workers. Persons engaged by the church leadership to serve and support the work of the ministry as employees and/or volunteers.

Congregation. A gathering of people in any physical location for worship services, programmes and events of the church. Includes church members, church employees, church volunteers, first time guests, regular guests and others.

A Review by Rev. Bernard Arde-Acquah

[General Overseer, Powerhouse Ministries International]

Dr. Albert Rockson proves he is a practitioner and has therefore captured the heart of effective church administration in this exposition. He very succinctly captures the scriptural basis for church administration.

Effective church administration is about connecting people to God through building adequate and effective systems and structures that promote the utilization of available resources, in an environment of unity.

The processes of coordinating, organizing, and team building should help develop a system and structure for ministry work that combines people, resources and administrative processes together so they work harmoniously.

This book is a must read for every pastor and church worker who wants to function effectively in a church environment. It is a tool - It is not so much designed to be read as it is to be used. It could be better described as a handbook, manual or encyclopedia and is designed for practitioners of church ministry.

Every church needs this book as a manual to guide it in building a healthy church to fulfill God’s mandate to preach the gospel. And this book provides a thorough guide to understanding the church and how to accomplish this mandate with no disruptions.

While thanking Dr. Rockson for his great input in helping build and shape our local church ministry in rural Accra, I highly recommend this book to the body of Christ to reach excellence and set out order and discipline in administering the church in all godliness and honesty.

FOREWORD

As channels through whom Christ achieves the purpose of His church on earth, church leaders ought to be well-equipped to lead the charge of fulfilling the church’s mandate in every generation.

Although many books have been written on various subjects in Christianity, not much can be said to have been written about the practices of the church at the grassroots level. This book ‘The Dynamics of Local Church Operations and Effective Work of the Ministry: An Experiential Exposition’ is one of the few books which gives a clear picture of the structures, administration and the effective running of the local church.

What makes this book unique and a must-read is the fact that it delves into the nitty-gritty of what constitutes a church, its mission, vision and philosophy; the various structures and work of ministry; church administration, and the functional structures and systems such as financial management structures and systems, ministry support structures and systems as well as human resource management structures and systems.

The author’s exposition into these grey areas helps to unearth many critical ministry areas most local churches have ignored because they do not consider them as important but which have, in one way or the other, adversely affected their operational efficiencies in achieving their mandates.

The author has gone down to the basics and elaborated what ought to be done by forward-looking churches to serve the purpose of God on earth. This clearly brings out his rich experiences in church administration and leadership coupled with the highlights of the best practices from leading churches in Ghana as he gives some practical steps to guide church workers and leaders in order to provide efficient services in the House of