Often times in ministry we feel that the problems we face in the church are usually people problems. After all we are in the business of ministering to people. So when a problem arises it must be a people problem – right? Not always.

Too often, but thankfully, a problem is not as it seems. It’s not ALWAYS a people problem. Let’s face it. People problems are a hassle. Dealing with personalities and character flaws is exhausting. Sadly, many Pastors and Ministers simply stop trying to improve the ministry capacity of their congregation simply because they have grown tired of trying to change the behaviors of people to create positive change.

Do you feel that people are most often the problem in your ministry? If so, you are among the majority of pastors and ministers. Would you be interested to find that not all problems are people problems? In fact, many of the situations that we believe are people problems are simply situation problems.

Here’s an example of a situation problem: The person who is the lead minister over your churches Greeters ministry is growing frustrated. Too often, the people they employ to greet guests are calling at the last minute to say they cannot be a “greeter” that Sunday morning. This is very frustrating for the lead minister as they thought they had everything under control. Their work was done…everyone was in place. But now at the last minute, there is confusion and worse yet, disappointment in people.

This all creates another host of problems, as now the faithful few who the lead minister is about to call upon to “fill in” for the absentee are about to become burdened with the constant chore of being a greeter. These gracious people have limited patients too. If constantly obliged upon, they are going to begin to experience resentment at those who are “calling off” all the time. Worse yet, they are going to begin to feel frustration at their fearless leader who is once again asking them to fill in for someone else.

This all sounds like a people problem doesn’t it? You might be surprised to find however, that it is not a people problem at all. Well, it can certainly develop in to a people nightmare if not corrected, but to correct it is very simple. You can change this whole situation without dealing with any of the individuals directly. You don’t have to meet with these people and constantly motivate them towards change or attitude corrections. What you have is not a people problem – it’s a situation problem! So forget about the people for a moment and fix the situation.

The situation is that you need to create commitments (policies) that will help curb first of all the ease at which a member of the Greeters team is able to call off. When a person volunteers to be on the greeters ministry, have a short meeting with them to go over the commitments that each of the greeters corporately agree to. Put these in writing and ask the new recruit to check off that they agree to these things and have them sign at the bottom of the page to signify that they will earnestly commit themselves to accomplish the goals of the commitment sheet.

Here is an example of some of the goals that you could use:

I (Your Name)

1. Do promise that I will to the best of my ability arrive at the church 30 minutes before service.

2. Will present myself to our guests with a smile and loving greeting that reflects the kind of welcome that our church would want to extend to each of our guests.

3. Will endeavor to always be present on my scheduled days to serve so as to not put an undue hardship on my leaders or those who would need to serve if I were unable to do so.

As time goes on, meet with your greeters occasionally to reward them for adhering to the commitments they agreed to. If one of your team members is unable to continue to commit to the policies, simply move them laterally to a place of ministry within the church where their level of availability will not pose a problem.

In addition to a few policies like this, one could also have in reserve a small group of people who only serve as fill-ins for when the inevitable occurs. These people are not regular greeters, but rather substitutes ready to be used when called upon. This way, when a person calls off, you will not be burdening the already faithful few who are doing their best to serve and who do not deserve to have additional burdens placed upon them.

I’m sure you get the idea. By changing the situation, you can alleviate most all of your people problems in this scenario. Through the years, we have all seen horrific people problems that did not start out as people problems. They were simple situation problems that if dealt with early on, could have easily been healed. Left undealt with however, they too often grow into people problems, which ultimately harm the church.

Identifying which problems are people problems and which ones are situation problems can often times be a bit confusing as our vision is blurred by personalities and hurt feelings of individuals. By taking a step back and analyzing the situation, you may be able to identify ways to cause the situation to change which will cause your people problems to diminish. If you feel that a certain problem is a situation problem, but are unable to determine how to resolve it, ask someone who is not so close to the people involved to give you some advise on how to correct the situation that has evolved.

Ask yourself: Is this a people problem or is it a situation problem? If you feel it is a people problem, is it possible that it started out as a situation problem but has escalated into a people problem. If it has, address the situation before you address the people. Apologize for creating or allowing the situation that has enabled this people problem. Then allow the people to join another area of ministry in the church if they feel it would best help them to heal from the problem. Don’t let them take a backseat however. Help them find a new exciting place in the church to serve. If allowed to retreat from ministry at this point, it will be very hard to get these people back into a mindset to serve.

When you determine what kind of problem you have, you are on your way to correcting it. You may find that the solution is much easier to implement if it is a situation problem and not a people problem.