All-Member (Collaborative) ministry - whose perspective?

An intriguing conversation with a lay minister brought about the complaint that the structure of 'the church' (by which they mean the local congregation) looked like this:

Their complaint, when the smoke cleared, was that they were not far enough up the telegraph post. They wanted to be 'a leader' rather than 'just a lay minister'. They were supposed to sit at the very top of the pole and be equal (or as the conversation continued, perhaps more than equal) with the Vicar. 'I want my views to make a difference and for people to do what I tell them,' they complained.

So I spoke to some of the members of the same church and their complaint was that there were 'too many chiefs and not enough indians'. 'The church,' they complained, 'Looks like this':

'Everyone makes the decisions and sets goals, goes on about mission and vision and targets and the like and we are left to get on with it. Everyone is in charge of something and we do the real work!' The members were forever (or so they thought) being set new goals and presented with vision statements and 'clever little sayings' (like 'for town, for church, for Christ') and the reality was that nothing ever really changed. 'It just looks good for those who pick up our bits of paper or read the noticeboard but it isn't,' was the mantra of the disgruntled members.

So I asked the person in church (and I have to say that whilst their title was 'Rector' one of the member's modifications to 'Rectum' did make me smile) what their take on the whole affair was. What was their church structure like and how much was it like that because of design or inheritance.

The church, they proudly proclaimed, 'Looks like this':

"They decide what they want to do and set the goals, vision and targets and I merely seek to support, enable and equip them.'

Now each and every person I spoke to felt theirs was the true vision of the church as it was. The person who was, at the end of the day, accountable felt that they were running a happy ship and that all were engaged and actively playing their part in the success story that those outside of the church could see.

I wonder what those in our churches and fellowships see when it comes to their church family and its ministry. Think I'll ask those in the one I belong to very soon and hope that I'm not (sadly) surprised. More on this soon . . . .