THE UNITED CHURCH OF ZAMBIA UNIVERSITY
Name: Muke Timothy
Student Number: T17017
Module Name: CHR 411 – Church management and Administration
Lecturer: Rev H.P Mwenifumbo
Assignment: In one of the pastoral Committee meetings at a certain congregation was observed
that the church programs including worship services were starting and running late. A number of
reasons were advanced why this is so and most of them showed it was the minister to blame.
Outline the possible reasons for this state of affairs and advise the minister on how he or she can
improve the situation. Be sure to demonstrate your understanding of applicable managerial
principles.
Date Due: 18TH March, 2020
DISCLAMER
Student declaration: I understand what plagiarism is and I acknowledge the consequences
thereof, as set out in the UCZ University style document for presentation and referencing (2020).
This assignment is my own work and all sources of information have been properly cited and
referenced as required.
18/03/20
Signature of Student………………………………Date:……………………………………..
INTRODUCTION
Management is a very vital element in running the affairs of an organization. It is helpful to note
that the success of an organization depends on the need to have proper managerial arrangements
which will guide and help an organization to meet its set goals and objectives. The church is not
exempted from this, because the church is not only on organism but an organization too. Thus it
calls for proper managerial principles to be applied in order for the church to run its activities
very well. In this assignment I will attempt to outline the possible reasons as to why in a certain
congregation members blamed the minister for the late running of church programs as well as
advise the minister on how he or she can improve the situation by demonstrating applicable
managerial principles. It will be as follows:
Define Management and Leadership
Possible cause for the late running of programs at church
Advise for the minister in relation to managerial principles
Conclusion
DEFINE MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
Management, according to Bauleni (2005: 6), can be defined as “a process of running any given
institution and accomplishing its tasks through the efforts of other people.” From this assertion
we can deduce that management is a task that cannot be achieved by an individual by rather it is
a collective pursuit that requires the contribution of many different gifts and skills. Management
is essentially about providing direction for the purpose of achieving the envisioned purposes. It is
from this aspect that management or managing organizations embrace and get to reflect into a
practical reality, resulting to useful attributes that help in the effective management of the
organization. Bauleni (2005:7) further adds that “management is the very focal point and acts as
a backbone of any organization or institution directing the entire operational spectrum of the
intended goals to be executed in the exactly proposed time; this could be either on a short or long
term basis.” Therefore, management is the hub in an organization which makes all departments
to move in an orderly manner in order to realize its goals at the end.
Others define management as “the process of designing and maintaining an environment in
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which individuals work together as a group to accomplish any given objectives.” This entails that
management is there in order to help accomplish the purpose or purposes why an institution or
organization exist. Some scholars have also defines management as “a distinct process
consisting of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling, performed to determine and
accomplishing stated objectives and to pursue one or more goals by the use of human beings and
other resources.” This is done by planning the course of action, starting with the duration and
allocation of both human and material resources, checking and controlling the progress of the
program that needs to be accomplished. Management is thus tasked to achieve the above stated
goals or the organization may fail to run its programs. Stephen Robbins and Coulter (2004:6)
affirm the definition of management by adding that “management as the process of coordinating
work activities so that they are completed in an efficient and effective manner through other
people.” This is usually done through the application of managerial functions.
Leadership is the most essential factor in any organization and at any place where people are
found. This also extends to non-human beings, in one or the other, there is a need to be a leader,
someone one who will inspire and cause others to follow in a certain way or path. It can be
therefore said that the progress of any organization depends mostly on the qualities that are
embodied in that particular leader. Therefore this assignment will identify and explain traits
needed for effective leadership.
Stogil (1974:259) concluded that, there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are
persons who have attempted to define the concept. Leadership has been defined in terms of traits,
behaviors, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships and occupation of an administrative
position.” From the above citation, it is very important to acknowledge the many attempts that
have been undertaken by scholars in defining what leadership is and how it should be. No one
can dispute that this scenario has emanated from the importance of this subject. In some ways,
the definition of leadership will also include the traits which enable these definitions to be
cardinal and relevant to different scenarios and circumstances.
POSSIBLE CAUSE FOR THE LATE RUNNING OF PROGRAMS AT CHURCH
An ancient proverb states, “The mind can absorb only what the seat can endure.” For many non-
church people, the church stands for every commandment except this law of common sense.
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While there is no God-ordained length for a time of public worship, there is a sensitivity dictated
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by 1 Corinthians 9:21: “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things
to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” In hot season, events that go longer
than an hour – like school commencement ceremonies – are increasingly frowned upon. Some
possible reasons are:
Lack of planning is one of the many reason as church would find itself in a situation where
many people complain. Planning is one of the five basic functions of management as initiated by
Henri Fayol. Robbins and Coulter (2005:8) shows that planning as a managerial function
involves “defining goals established strategies for achieving those goals and developing plans to
integrate and co-ordinate activities.” Planning is looking ahead. According to Henri Fayol,
drawing up a good plan of action is the hardest of the five functions of management. This
requires an active participation of the entire organization. With respect to time and
implementation, planning must be linked to and coordinated on different levels. Planning must
take the organization’s available resources and flexibility of personnel into consideration as this
will guarantee continuity. Therefore, late start of church services is an indication that there is
poor planning. When the service gets started five minutes late, you can count on the service
going overtime at least by that amount. If you go from starting a service several minutes late to
starting a service a few minutes early, you can achieve a swing of five to ten minutes easily. It
may be necessary to commission someone from the worship team as the timekeeper to ensure
that the service is started two to three minutes early.
Secondly, the reason for late running of church programs is lack of organization. When a
minister is not well organized, things been done disorderly with no systematic approach, then
this results in mismanagement of time thereby making it possible for programs at church to run
late. Organizing is a managerial function that entails structural consideration such as organisation
chart, division of labor and assignments of responsibilities. In other words it involves who is to
do what task, when they will have to do the task, and how will they do them?
Lack of organization also affects the sermon outline. The best sermons only have one “big idea.”
If the message has more than one, it should be split into series. Better to preach three leisurely
20-minute messages than to try to squeeze an hour of material into 40 minutes. Streamlining
content this way can save up 10 to 15 minutes.
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A lack of delegation can cause the minister to be blamed for the longevity of the worship
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services. In management, the managerial function of staffing involves the organization structure
through proper and effective selection, assessment and improvement of personnel to fill the roles
assigned to the employers. Dr S.V Shinde (2018:94) quotes Theo Haiman and states that
“Staffing pertains to recruitment, selection, development and compensation of subordinates. This
tells us that staffing is about a person who has tasks and involves people who may have
knowledge in order that the required results are met. The minister in question may have not taken
time to do his staffing very well so as to put into effect the idea of delegation. This would help
because there times that the minister may be engaged in many other programs requiring his
attention. With adequate trained lay people, they may come in to assist.
The other possible reason that could lead to the worship service running late could be when the
minister does not understand his role, this is most common when the minister take his own time
as well to make announcements that have already been talked about by the secretary. This is lack
of control; Management has a duty to look into controlling and modifiable organizational
activities so that actual performances meet the expected purposes. By confirming whether
everything is going according to plan, the church knows exactly whether the activities are carried
out in orthodoxy with the plan.
Lack of motivation could be another mode for the minister`s failure to manage time very well.
People waste time because they are unmotivated. In other words, they procrastinate. Ministers
who procrastinate usually know what they should do and when they should do it, they just don’t.
As a result, they're often rushing to finish things at the last minute. Procrastination is often
labeled poor time management, but it should be labeled poor motivation management instead.
The truth is people don’t procrastinate on stuff they like to do.
If you really love your job, you're usually much motivated to do the work. But when you have to
do work that you hate, procrastination may kick into overdrive. Because procrastinators have
trouble generating motivation to do tasks they dislike, they tend to rely on external motivators,
like deadlines, to spur them to work. So they live in a cycle of calm and chaos, veering between
periods of low-stress and then high-stress when a deadline is approaching. The key to
overcoming procrastination is learning to rely on internal instead of external motivators. But no
calendar, planner or time management app will help if lack of motivation is the root cause of
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your poor time management.
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Work piling up is another time wasting factor – one needs to set priorities and determine the
difference between urgent and important. Set yourself realistic deadlines and see if you can keep
to and delegate more often! Poor time management often occurs because you’re trying to do too
much in the little time you have available. Trying to do too much – As stated before, you must
set priorities. If it’s impossible to get everything done, ask which deadlines could be changed.
Learn to say no, because if you take on more work, everything else will suffer, especially your
stress levels. Time management mistakes often occur when we are overstressed or overwhelmed
with things.
ADVISE FOR THE MINISTER IN RELATION TO MANAGERIAL PRINCIPLES
In advising the minister on how to improve the situation at the congregation in regard to the
complaint of mismanagement of time, it can be very helpful to look at the principles of
management. Henri Fayol made a contribution to the management theory by advocating for
principles of management. The management principles must be flexible and adaptable to
changing circumstances. These principles may be influenced by the organisation structure in this
case the congregation in which the process of management takes place. Fayol identified 14
principles of management however this study will focus on some in relation to advising the
minister on how to improve the situation.
Division of work. The objective is to produce more and better work from the same effort and the
advantages of specialisation. When work is divided, the task is handled with so much efficiency
such that an organization or church tends be to prudent in dealing with time. The minister
therefore must look into the idea of dividing work among others since the UCZ believes in the
priesthood of all believers.
Authority and responsibility. Responsibility is the corollary of authority. Whenever authority is
exercised, responsibility follows. The application of sanctions is essential to good management
and it is needed to encourage useful actions and to discourage their opposite. The minister is the
manager of an organization, thus he or she is responsible with guiding and managing the
activities of the church. Some members tend to be loose and get excited thereby ending up
delaying the worship service. The minister in this case should exercise authority and put things in
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order.
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Discipline is essential for the efficient operation of the organisation. Discipline is in essence the
outward mark of respect for agreements between the organisation and its members. In this
principle of management, we can note that the minister in question may have lack of the aspect
of disciple that is why the complaint of long worship services fell on him. Discipline is essential
if tasks and objectives of an organization are to be made.
Unity of direction. In order to provide for unity of action, coordination and focusing of effort,
there should be one head and one plan for any group of activities with the same objective. A lack
of direction is a sign of confusion. When the congregation does not have a specified direction,
there is a possibility that the worship service maybe digressing in its course and end up using
time irresponsibly.
Subordination of individual interest to the general interest. The interest of the organisation
should dominate individual or group interests. This principle when put in place it helps thwart
any possibilities of someone using church time for worship to talk about unnecessary things.
When we consider the interest of others in this case the members of the congregation bearing in
mind that they too have other matters to attend to, then it will help in not detaining them for long
hours beyond their need.
Order. This includes material and social order. Material order is required for the avoidance of
loss with each item placed at the appointed place. In social order, there should be an appointed
place for each employee and each employee in his/her appointed place.
Initiative. This represents a source of strength for the organisation and should be encouraged
and developed. Tact and integrity are important to promote initiative and to retain respect for
authority and discipline.
Good time management allows people to accomplish more in a shorter period of time, which
leads to more free time, which lets them take advantage of learning opportunities, lowers stress,
and helps to focus, which leads to more success. Each benefit of time management improves
aspect of life. The minister in this case lack diligence in the handling of the congregation and did
not use the principles of management very well and understand the functions of management.
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Personality development is another aspect that comes out prominently when we discuss the
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importance of the functions of management in relationship to effective leadership. Management
involves not just performing activities but also grooming the skills and personality of workers.
Many seminars, workshops educational meetings, etc. are held in order to make the workers
more competent and capable. In this way, management aids in personality development of
people.
CONCLUSION
Organizations will continue to evolve and new management theories will continue to emerge.
From a pedagogical perspective, fulfilling their role in preparation for successful careers or
ministry in this dynamic environment will require an understanding of the functions of
management and their significance to effective leadership. Ministers are therefore encouraged to
use the five overarching functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling in
order to have a smooth running of the congregation.
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