I have an absolute commitment to making staff know how important they are. I understand the need for hierarchical structures, so things can get done and people know what they're supposed to do. But I'm uncomfortable with the idea that hierarchy makes one person more important than another. It shouldn't be that, because of my position, I get time to be with my family, but no one else does. An influence from his doctoral work that Don hopes to incorporate into the management structure here is the practice of reflecting on our work and ministry.
Organizational structures tend to have an emphasis on 'doing'.
We need to have times of reflecting on our work as well, to ask if we're really impacting and changing the churches or communities in which we minister. We're to love God and our neighbor, and that's the drawing card for the world to see. It's not supposed to be top-down, it should come out of community. That's why we need to look at how our ministry is affecting not only others, but how it's affecting us. Don scoffs at the notion that when the church ministers to the poor, the poor are the only ones being helped.