• They are useful in translating the church's general
statement of purpose into terms that can guide the decision making process.
• They are useful in testing past and current practices and
decisions against the church’s official statement of purpose.
• They serve as an important organizational aid and management tool
when they are in written form, current in content, broad but flexible, simple and easy to
understand, and positive in nature.
• They are needed to prevent having an attitude of being too
legalistic or having a mindset that "anything goes".
• They tend to produce consistent, coherent, and compatible
decisions.
• When properly implemented, they become an invaluable resource for
identifying and delegating responsibilities, preserving a consistent level of quality
performance throughout church ministries and protecting church leaders and the
congregation as a whole.
• They help avoid needless discussion about how tasks should
be accomplished and who is responsible for completing the tasks.
• They permit the responsibility for many minor decisions to
be delegated.
• They assist in the timely training of new personnel and eliminate
time consuming meetings by staff or ministry leaders on routine matters. It is a proven
fact that when individuals or groups know their job, what is expected of them and the
limits of their responsibilities and authority, they will accomplish results and find
rewards in the use of their spiritual gifts.
• They tend to improve the quality of the planning and
budgeting process.
• They conserve valuable time for more important tasks and
allow church leaders the flexibility needed to make routine decisions without constantly
seeking opinions or direction from other persons or organizations within the church.
• They improve efficiency and alleviate conflicts and
misunderstandings in the decision-making process.
• They offer a rationale for explaining decisions.
• They tend to help keep the debate focused on the basic
principle or policy behind a specific decision rather than on the details of a particular
decision. This reduces the possibility of divisive controversy during a church business
meeting.
• They encourage long-range thinking and planning.
• They provide an excellent basis to broaden the degree of
participation in the decision-making process, to encourage lay involvement, and to
improve the quality of communication in "why" the church is involved in certain
activities.
• They assist the church in being a better steward of the
Lord's resources of which He has so graciously entrusted to us. |
