Go to a church and ask them what ministries they have. The list might be really long! Sometimes the word is meant to indicated a department of the church like Children or Women. Sometimes the word is used to indicate a specific activity that happens weekly like Sunday School. Sometimes the word is stretched to cover something as simple as a quilting group that meets weekly to make quilts for people in need.
The reason the word is used in so many ways is because in a church ministry is also a verb. Anyone can do ministry and any ministry that is done by the same people on an ongoing basis gets called a ministry.
Using the word Ministry in our data model turned out to be somewhat confusing. Frankly, if I could go back I might opt for the generic word "Department" instead!
Still, when we used the word "Ministry" in our data model it was synonymous with the word "Department". Ministries in our database for multi-congregational churches were fairly permanent and had clear, stable leadership and regular activities.
So, one way to describe a multi-site church is to talk about it's ministries (aka departments) and its congregations (aka campuses). These two structures are the main pillars of the entire database.
This brings me to my 4th and 5th rules.
Rule #4: Ministries should only be listed once in the multi-congregational model. Groups, Programs, and Events should be related to a central list of ministries.
Rule #5: Ministries and Congregations are not the same and should not be confused. The Ministries of the church work in and from the congregations of the church.
Practical application:
A church that has experienced significant growth is now maxed out in it's main campus. There are over a dozen departments serving the community and the people who attend that church. A decision was made to start a video campus in a remote location where many church members live. The Children's, Worship, and First Impressions Ministries will build teams to serve the new location. A new ministry called "Remote Campus Leadership" will be created with at least one team. Over time some of the other departments like Students and Women may also build teams at the new location.
Good organization of thoughts. I struggle with language and it seems very important to clarify for the long term. So a group seems to be more of community that gathers around a shared interest and a program seems to be something seasonal and service related????
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