Church culture: What it is and what it isn't
It is commonly understood in the church world that culture is important because it shapes the way things are done in any local church. Strategies easily come and go, but culture is deeply embedded and difficult to change. As Lovett Weems says,
Webster defines the word culture as, “the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes that includes thought, speech, action and artifacts.” Families, organizations and entire nations possess cultures. Culture represents “the way we do things around here”; it is how we behave most of the time.[1]
Or, as he adds, quoting Denham Grierson from Transforming a People of God, “At a deeper and less visible level, culture represents the values that are shared by the people in a group and tend to persist over time, even when the group membership changes.”[2]
So, as we are discussing what church culture is, let’s take a look what church culture is not. It is not your mission statement (which clearly and concisely trumpets your purpose); it is notyour vision statement (which succinctly sets your direction). While both are crucial in your church’s leadership work and we highly recommend these be clearly articulated within your congregation, they are not your church’s culture. Your mission and vision help differentiate you from other churches and provide a bit of identity for church members to rally around and a function to motivate. But purpose, direction, and function do not paint a picture of your church’s culture. They are about what a church does.
Church culture is not “what you do” in your ministry. It is how you go about doing what you do. And it messages to the “why” behind the “what” you do. For the church, culture tells a story that resonates with the heart and passions of the people you seek to reach. Church culture has the potential to make an emotional and spiritual connection to what people believe and desire to see present in their church. It offers an explanation for why people from all walks of life come together every Sunday, serve in the ministries of the church, and volunteer their time and talents, and give generously to the mission.
Take communion for example. It is a “what” that most churches do. It is a special time, a sacred moment, a ritual of bonding and obedience. Most communion instructions by the pastor or officiant will include the biblical “why” (“This is not our table; it is the Lord’s. All are welcome who have a sincere desire to be closer to God,” etc.). The “how” may be by intinction or common cup or passing the elements through the pews or congregants kneeling at the rail to receive the elements. And so on.
But it is the “how we go about doing what we do” in which the culture of the church is messaged and communicated. I (Jim) and our worship team at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church, which I served as long-tenured pastor, remained intentional about creating a culture of closeness, personalness, and being relational. I shared with the participants that as pastor I would bless the elements as is the custom of the church. And then I further informed the congregation that staff members and volunteers would serve each person one by one as I moved around the platform bless- ing participants, praying for them if I happen to know of a personal need or simply if I felt led by God. I touched the hands of all the youth, saying, “God has great need of you.” Can you just feel the relational culture exuding to all through that intentional messaging?
As well, I gave these instructions: “When you approach the communion rail, we invite you to fold your hands and extend them across the rail. If you would like me to pray for you personally, you please say your first name when the server arrives as a way of presenting your whole self to Christ at this sacred moment.” (Notice this practice also allows the server to hear the person’s name and then to repeat it: “Sharon, this is the love of Christ given for you and for the world.”) See how it becomes ultra personal? There may be multiple variations of this same type of process. The impor- tant point is that it was not the practice but the culture messaging that was most important!
After eighteen years I moved to a different assignment, and my succes- sor wanted to do communion with a few tweaks. No problem! A healthy culture allows for flexibility and change because the bedrock values have already been planted. Thirty years later, through subsequent pastors, the culture practice remains.
Even AI gets it. Culture is important! A Google search of organiza- tional culture reveals this AI description: “Organizational culture is some- times called the glue that holds an organization together. It is the silent code of conduct that’s more about how things get done than what gets done here. It can also be called ‘white noise’ which is background static that may affect you, but goes unnoticed.”
While we provide lengthy background material on the academic un- derstanding of organizational culture in our afterword section, most experts who study organizational culture agree that it is simply “how we do things around here.”[3]
Excerpted from Church Culture: How to Assess It, Shift It, and Shape It by Jim Ozier and Yvette Thibodeaux. Copyright © 2024 Abingdon Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
[1] Lovett Weems, Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture, and Integrity (Nashville: Abingdon, 2010), 82, 83.
2. Denham Grierson, Transforming a People of God (Melbourne Joint Board of Christian Education, 1984), 34; quoted in Weems, Church Leadership, 83.
3. Stephen Bandino, Creating Your Church’s Culture: How to Uproot Mediocrity and Create a Healthy Organizational Culture (self-published, 2013), 11.