MBC

In Ministry, there are various management styles we can learn from including:

Management by Objectives*

Management by Exception*

One model you don't hear very much about which I've seen in some churches is MBC i.e. Management by Committee. This may work in a secular organization (though I doubt it), but Ministry by Committee is definitely not a good idea.

If you must have a committee, this advice I heard years ago is the best way to go in some instances: The most effective committees has an odd number of members - less than 3. Yes, there are times when if you need to get things done quickly, well or even at all, you're better off assigning it to one committed person.

When writing this, I couldn't help but look up other quotes on what I term the "Committee of One" and look up advice on how to effectively use committees:

"A committee is a thing which takes a week 

to do what one good man do in an hour." 

~ Elbert Hubbard 

"To get something done a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." ~ Robert Copeland

"Any committee is only as good as the most knowledgeable, determined and vigorous person on it. There must be somebody who provides the flame." 

~ Lady Bird Johnson

We really need to be careful on Ministry by Committees - it's good to get people engaged in the work because you and your husband cannot do everything yourselves however you need to be careful not to create clogs in the wheel of progress in the form of committees. Committees must have clear Terms of Reference and distinct boundaries. We also need to be careful that they don't become a "stronghold" and convert church to a collection of political parties. 
Please note that I'm not saying do not ever use committees...I'm saying:

• Use committees sparingly, if you must - and sometimes you must
• Mix up people put in committees - this increases the diversity and wealth of ideas considered at meetings - this has worked well for us
• When you use committees, use it as a training opportunity also - for instance, if there are people who are deemed "experts" in any area such as events planning, challenge them to coach/mentor others
• No matter how competent your church (& committee) members are, they can only make recommendations not decisions - the reason is simple, the buck stops with Pastor and you as appropriate - you're accountable to God and in some countries to the government too 

It would be great to hear other tips on how to use committees in ministry.


References:
*Definitions from Wikipedia
MBO: also known as management by results (MBR), is a process of defining 
objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the
objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization in order to achieve them. The term "management by objectives" was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.
MBE: is a style of business management that focuses on identifying and handling cases that deviate from the norm.