Why Church Culture Matters: 5 Must-Have Elements for Success
Avoid Toxic Environments and Build a Ministry That Thrives
We have all heard the phrase that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s true. You know it. You’ve experienced the upsides of a strong and healthy culture. And perhaps you’ve had to navigate the journey of recovery from a toxic culture.
Over the years as I’ve worked with churches and teams, I’ve attempted to be a student of culture. The following are a few brief insights that I hope will be helpful as you build culture in your church.
Clarity
Strong culture requires clarity at every turn. Are the vision, mission and values clear to everyone on the team? Can they not only recall them, but really know them and how they impact their work? Does everyone on the team know their role - where it begins and ends? Do they understand how it contributes to the strategy? Clarity is kindness which brings us to the importance of care.
What’s fuzzy for your team? If you don’t know, ask them!
Care
A healthy culture provides a healthy environment where teams are cared for and team members thrive. Healthy care protects and provides.
How do you demonstrate care for your team?
Coaching
Strong cultures are coaching cultures. At every level of the organization, leaders are coached by their supervisors and expected to coach those that they lead. In some situations, coaching is formalized through systems and tools that are often embedded in the HR performance process. In other cases, it’s more organic and finds it’s expression through simple coaching questions, immersion experiences and regular communication.
Do you have a coaching plan in place to support your culture?
Celebration
Teams with healthy cultures prioritize making time to celebrate. They celebrate ministry growth, community impact and transformed lives. They also celebrate personal things like birthdays, anniversaries, new babies and other accomplishments.
When’s the last time you threw a party?
Computation
Ok, so “computation” is a stretch because it’s the only synonym I could find for assessment. Just like I’m a fan of healthy culture, I’m a fan of assessments. You can’t know what to fix, if you don’t know what is broken.
Have you done a culture checkup recently?
There are lots of assessments available but one of the newest ones I have discovered was developed by Jenni Catron as a part of the research for her newly released book, Culture Matters. You can take the free assessment here. In addition to the assessment, grab a copy of the book here. It’s one of the best resources available on the topic. Jenni presents excellent insight into what she has framed as the “Culture Hiearchy of Needs,” and also notes 6 reasons to be intentional about culture, including:
Work, at its core, is really about people.
Purpose (knowing the why) matters more than ever, especially with Gen Z.
Remote/flex work is here to stay which requires more intentional building of culture that was partially caught by being present with your team.
Culture that is healthy retains talent and longevity pays off in a season when average time with an organization is less than 4 years.
Navigating change (the only constant in growing organizations) is almost impossible when the culture is weak or worse, toxic.
Culture is a multiplier and it can either create momentum or tank the mission.
In our work with senior pastors, churches and their teams during the succession process, we spend a significant amount of time talking about culture. Succession by definition requires change and culture, if not protected, can take a real hit as a result of the transition. We help leaders manage the change from beginning to end. We are intentional about providing clarity at every step of the way. We help leaders understand how to best care for the leaders, staff and congregation. Because we understand the value of coaching, we approach our work as a coach and trusted advisor. And we guide in the design of celebration of both the out-going and in-coming pastors.
I would love to have the chance to talk with you about your succession journey and if given the opportunity to serve, be honored to come alongside every step of the way.
If you’re beginning to explore what’s next, let’s connect! I’d love to learn more about your journey and discuss how we can support you. Email me at greg@ligongroup.com or schedule a call by selecting a time that works for you here.
Our 2025 calendar is filling fast—let’s start the conversation!