Increasing Participation in the Marriage Enrichment Group at Tabernacle Church - Essay Example

As communicated to the researcher by the founding pastor, the Tabernacle discovered earlier in its ministry that in a dynamic world, the process of ministry is as important and as critical as the product of ministry. Therefore, small groups became the process through which quality care of members took place. Small groups were also places where members developed personal relationships. However, over the years, the groups at Tabernacle have been reduced to four. The structure of the Tabernacle Church is hierarchical, with the senior pastor being the Chief Executive Officer.

Three assistant pastors help the senior pastor in providing general care for the congregation. They are also responsible for leading Men and Women’s Ministries as well as the Marriage Enrichment Ministry. The church has an administrator, a deacon and elder, two praise and worship leaders and an audio technician. Additionally, the Executive Board of the church comprises of the senior pastor, assistant pastors, the head deacon, an elder and the administrator. The Executive Board is responsible for hiring, buying and selling properties on behalf of the church.

However, the senior pastor has the final say in decision-making and all of the above leaders report to him directly. The senior pastor of Tabernacle Church communicated to the researcher his observation of an ongoing pattern of low program activity, resulting in low program participation in the marriage subunit; hence, the problem. Further observation with the senior pastor reveals the effectiveness of the marriage enrichment subunit, which is supposed to create a network of support to encourage couples to grow in intimacy and commitment, as well as learn skills that will improve their marriages, has significantly declined.

Consequently, the needed leadership is not being provided for the subunit of the family services