NESDA: Organizational Analysis & Recommendation
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Northeast El Paso Seventh-day Adventist Church: An Organizational
Analysis and Recommendation
Carlos A. Molina
School of Business, Liberty University
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Abstract
The NESDA is a warm and welcoming SDA church in El Paso, Texas. Its core membership is committed but
advanced in age, and during the last ten years, the church has experienced zero net growth in its membership.
In conversing with the church pastor, three problems were identified: lack of organizational mission, lack of
leadership replacement plan, out of touch with the immediate community. This paper identifies the three main
problems and then analyzes the organization applying the different organizational theories. Lastly, we provide
recommendations to address the issues identified using the different perspectives of organizational theory to
establish a mission, improve the outlook of the church’s leadership, and engage the church’s immediate
community.
Keywords:
Natural, rational, open systems, church, community, leadership
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Northeast El Paso Seventh-day Adventist Church:
An Organizational Analysis
The Northeast El Paso Seventh-day Adventist Church (NESDA) is a welcoming and
loving community in El Paso, Texas. NESDA is part of the Texico Conference, the regional
organization of SDA churches, which is, in turn, a part of the North American Division which
covers the US and Canada. The last level of organization is the General Conference which is the
worldwide headquarters of the SDA church.
The global mission of the SDA church is to “Make disciples of Jesus Christ who live as
His loving witnesses and proclaim to all people the everlasting gospel of the Three Angels’
Messages in preparation for His soon return (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Rev 14:6-12) (General
Conference of SDA, 2014, Mission statement section, para 1.). Not surprisingly, this mission
statement is a broad one that provides the general goals without dictating any specific methods,
thus allowing local churches to identify those that work best for them in their context. A quick
survey of the websites for the other levels of the SDA church, the Texico Conference, and the
North American Division reveals that they have mission statements at their respective levels.
NESDA, on the other hand, does not.
The lack of a mission statement that can provide a raison d’être and guide the church in
carrying out the mission at its level is a significant problem affecting its operation. Currently,
NESDAs organizational approach comes from the natural perspective. As a result, the church has
a loosely formal structure limited to a few positions such as pianist, elders, treasurer, and church
clerk. The current situation has a negative impact on weekly services, which often appear
disorganized and rely upon on-the-spot requests for members to lead.
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The second problem affecting NESDA is an overreliance on a few founding members,
which soon becomes the single point of failure when any one of them is not present. Except for
the pianist and a couple of other persons, most of the leaders of NESDA have been shouldering
the leadership responsibilities for the last twenty years. While this provides great continuity,
there is no plan to actively train and prepare others to take over the mantle of leadership once
current leaders are no longer able or willing to perform their duties. A significant concern is that
most of the church membership, including current leaders, are seniors over 60, which, according
to the 2020 mortality rates in the US, puts the overall life expectancy of the church at less than
ten years, if nothing changes (Murphy et al., 2021).
The current leadership situation at NESDA has impacted the format of the worship
services, which tend to be geared to the older generation and ignore the needs of younger
attendants. In addition, the use of technology in the church has been slow to develop mostly
because the leaders tend to be comfortable with the ways they have always done things.
Lastly, NESDA is located in El Paso, a city with a significant number of migrants and
locals who speak Spanish. According to the website city-data.com, 71% of the people living in
the census block group where the church is located are Hispanic. The Hispanic percentage of the
population rises to 86 percent in the next census block. While a significant number of church
members speak Spanish, there are no Spanish worship services, bible studies, or any other
outreach programs in Spanish, revealing a disconnect with the needs of the community the
church is supposed to serve.
A lack of a clear mission for local ministry, a lack of formal structure for replacing
leaders in an aging organization, and a disconnect with the needs of the community are the
significant problems NESDA is confronting in 2022.
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Organizations have generally been defined as a group of people coming together to
accomplish a particular goal. The rational systems perspective focuses on what the members of
the organization purposely do to accomplish its goal. The natural systems perspective looks at
the organization primarily as a complex aggregate individuals, focusing on its maintenance goals
and the informal goals of its members. Finally, the open systems perspective views the
organization as an association of groups with variable interests (Scott & Davis, 2017). These
three theories of organizations offer valuable perspectives that can help us understand the
challenges presented here and perhaps even help us find possible solutions.
One significant aspect not considered by any of these theoretical perspectives is the
supernatural nature of the organizer of the church. While conversing with his disciples, Jesus
declared himself as the founder of the church based on himself as the Son of God. “Simon Peter
answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you,
Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in
heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the
gates of Hades will not overcome it (NIV, 1978/1983 Matthew 16:16-18). There are some
elements that transcend the rational, natural, and open perspective dynamics and cannot be
explained by the typical arguments for or against these theories. On the other hand, Merida
points out that “churches and organizations often fall apart because no one has trained future
leaders. Let this text remind us of the importance of preparing the next generation of leaders,
fathers, mothers, and missionaries. We must train and deploy faithful kingdom servants”
(Merida, 2015). Thus, while we recognize that the church is an organization with a spiritual
foundation, it still exists in a fallen world, and its members are subject to the influences of fallen
humanity. Lastly, while the church organization can be described in terms of rational, natural,
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and open systems theory, care should be exercised to reject the evolutionary premises espoused
by these.
Irrational Blindness
“Rational system theorists stress goal specificity and formalization because each of these
elements makes an important contribution to the rationality of organizational action” (Scott &
Davis, 2017, p 36). In other words, when an organization has a clear understanding of what are
its goals, it is able to guide its actions to support and promote its achievement. Conversely, when
it does not, its actions are disconnected from each other, and the impact is at best unclear and, at
worst, counterproductive. NESDA’s lack of a mission statement is affecting different ministry
departments such as preaching, music and worship, community services, and membership
commitment. Currently, NESDAs preaching schedule has no particular direction or purpose.
Every week different leaders preach on whatever subject they feel impressed with. While the
church must remain open to the inklings of the Holy Spirit, not having a plan and purpose leads
to minimal impact on the theological growth and maturity of those attending the services.
Music and worship in NESDA are led by one committed mother and daughter team. Yet
the musical selection is limited to the songs they are familiar with, and very little new music is
introduced. No plan exists to prepare additional worship leaders, and whenever one or both are
not able to attend services, the worship experience is diminished due to the lack of musical
accompaniment. NESDA’s community services offer infrequent activities that engage the
congregation but leave no evidence of the impact they had nor have any follow-up with those
who may have benefited. There are no records quantifying the value of the services rendered or
goods distributed and no reporting back to the congregation.
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NESDA’s membership has been stagnant during the last 20 years. A recent report by the
Texico Conference, the regional component of SDA church hierarchical structure, showed that
NESDA has lost as many members as it has gained, for a net growth of zero. More significant is
the number of people who attend church services intermittently, demonstrating a lack of
commitment. Finally, the church does not have an effective member roster preventing it from
conducting any type of follow-up with members who stop attending.
Natural Disconnect
The natural systems perspective sees organizations as communes of people who share a
common interest in the preservation of the system by recognizing the multiplicity of formal and
informal goals and the interaction between individuals and groups within the organization
(Önday, 2018; Scott & Davis, 2017). NESDA’s lack of a clear mission has led to an emphasis on
the informal goals of the different groups or individual members. For example, the associate
pastor has focused his sermons on his particular interests of bible teachings while the rest of the
preachers have focused their sermons on their perceived ideas of what the church needs.
The response to the COVID crisis has been influenced by a group of a few leaders who
hold key positions who decided they would not come to services if the church remained open,
becoming the single point of failure, which led to the closure of services, a few times. Similarly,
another group undertook a major project to visit Noah’s ark in Williamstown, Kentucky, that will
impose a significant financial burden on the church. The weekly adult bible study is led by a
dedicated member, contingent upon allowing her to conduct the study as she sees fit, often
pitting the bible study against the other parts of the weekly service, albeit in a subtle fashion.
While none of these goals are intrinsically wrong, they are at worst all disconnected from each
other, and at best, so loosely connected that they have no lasting impact in the church. Thus, the
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current situation can be described in the words of the writer of Judges “In those days Israel had
no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (NIV, 1978/1993, Judges 21:25).
Who is my neighbor?
Open systems recognize the increased complexity of social organizations and consider
both the internal organizational interdependence and external environmental aspects that
influence and shape them. (Jung & Vakharia, 2019; Scott & Davis, 2017). NESDA is located in
the 79924-zip code, which is comprised of 68% percent Spanish-speaking folks (City-data.com).
The percentage of Spanish-speaking persons is even higher in the census blocks closest to the
church. However, since its inception, NESDA has been an English-speaking organization and
has largely ignored the ever-increasing Spanish community that surrounds it.
According to internal church records and Texico Conference of SDA Churches, the
parent organization NESDA’s growth during the last twenty years has been null. While there
have been a few baptisms of children belonging to current members, there have been few to no
baptisms of people outside the organization. Conversely, member deaths, transfers to other
churches, and disfellowships have contributed to the current growth stagnation of the church. All
the above notwithstanding, NESDA is still operating with seemingly acceptable weekly
attendance numbers and an adequate financial state, thus seemingly defying some of the ideas of
the proponents of the open system perspective.
The process of morphostasis in NESDA does not negate the process of morphogenesis,
but it is apparent that NESDA’s effort to maintain its original and current form is still
predominant over the effort to adapt in response to the input from the environment. This is
reflected in that the persons in leadership positions in NESDA have largely remained the same
over the years. Conversely, an aging membership, especially the leaders, coupled with a recently
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appointed pastor and growing awareness of the social environment, may serve to give the
process of morphogenesis the upper hand.
Personal Perspective
No one likes change but a wet baby. This old saying, often attributed to Mark Twain,
reflects the attitude of most people and the organizations they are part of. Yet, change is an
intrinsic part of any living organism, and while we may not admit it, often what people and
organizations dislike is the process of change and not change itself. Hackman (2017) points out
the need “to lay out the exact reasons for undertaking a large reorganization project before
asking staff to commit themselves to the significant work and upheaval such a project would
create.”
Using Kotter’s eight-step model for organizational change, I would help the members of
NESDA see the urgency of their situation to stimulate a shared desire to make the necessary
changes and ensure the church’s relevant existence in their community. First the church board
will be presented with the historical data showing the church’s growth during the last 20 years.
Second, a simple analysis of the church’s current demographics will be presented to highlight the
challenges of the current organizational state. Lastly, the analysis of the current community
demographics will be presented to demonstrate the need for a mission that capitalizes on the
opportunities for growth and longevity through services aimed at the surrounding Spanish-
speaking community.
To resolve the problem of not having a mission, I will use Kotter’s third step to develop a
vision for ministry in their community. “Central to this phase of the model is the need for clear
change objectives, a philosophy or ‘brand identity and an understanding of what will be
delivered to service users” (King et al., 2018). The vision statement will be imbedded with the
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those of the larger organization, while at the same time reflect the situation of the church in its
geographical and social environment. Having a clear mission statement will help the church
identify the gifts and talents they have and match those to the needs of the surrounding
community. It will also help minimize the waste of energy and resources in activities that do not
meet the needs of the community.
The fourth and fifth steps in Kotter’s model will be of significance as the leadership
shares the vision with the church and empowers the membership. Having a clear understanding
of the vision and mission of the church will empower the membership to take on leadership
responsibilities. The current leadership will need to train the younger generation and purposedly
pass on the mantle of leadership. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must become greater; I
must become less” (NIV, 1978/1983, John 3:30).
Expanding services to include the Spanish community can seem an insurmountable task
for an English-speaking church. Kotter’s sixth step, generating short-term wins, will help in
highlighting the small but significant actions the church will be taking. Simple things such as
including some Spanish songs in the worship service and adding a Spanish-speaking bible class
will pave the way for more significant change, such as adding a worship service in Spanish.
According to Lambert (2018) these practices will become more commonly accepted by the
members of the organization as they see their success and will then generate more short-term
wins.
Kotter’s last step is that of anchoring the new approaches in the culture of the
organization. By implementing this change model, I believe we will solve the problems related to
the lack of formal organization and unite the different forces to start working together to both
accomplish the mission related to their community and develop the new leadership that will
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ensure the continued viability of the organization. Wentworth et al (2018) point out that when
change is effectively implemented, it should promote a snowball effect that promotes additional
change in the organization.
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