It’s something that I don’t talk enough about in our gatherings probably because it’s not that much fun. Add in a cultural disdain for organized religion and things like “org charts” and denominational news are often met with glazed over eyes and/or a skeptical heart. And yet, it’s all Biblical and critical to who we are and what what we are called to do.

Just as our skeleton is critical to the healthy function of our bodies, so too is organism organization. For a church is more like an organism than an organization, but even organisms require design and structure to function. Our church is a living body in submission to the mind and heart of Jesus. He directs us by His Word and animates us by His Spirit. And He calls us to an organized purpose. He calls leaders to lead. He calls us to have organized gatherings. He calls us to be fair, generous, and effective stewards. He calls us to go out into our world with the Gospel.

Our church is part way through a “visioneering” process where our leaders are making the time to be more intentional in our God-given purposes. At the end of this process we will be more articulate in what it means to be a Parksider and how we are to all work together to accomplish what God would have us become and what God would have us do.

In the meantime, particularly for those that are new to Parkside, I thought it to be helpful to create a diagram (see below) to more clearly explain how all the different pieces of Parkside fit together. The diagram is by no means exhaustive or static – people, programs, events and even parts of our structure and systems come and go. I hope you find it helpful. Bless you as you serve God, His church, and your world.