Pastors and church leaders spend a lot of time talking about strategy, mission, vision, and those things that matter. Yet, they are catalyzing forces for your church and what God has called you to.

However, it won’t matter if your culture and values do not support your strategy, mission, and vision. The words on the wall will be meaningless.

Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And he’s right.

Culture is a squishy thing. Simply put, culture is how things “get done” without telling anyone. It is the knowledge that this is who we are without being told.

Every church has a culture. It is how worship is done, what is expected of preaching, what can or can’t be changed, what the church would say is the most important thing.

I remember working at a church and going through orientation and learning all the church policies, communication, working with the social media team, getting things done, etc. After the meeting, my assistant pulled me aside and said, “Now, let me tell you how things get done.” That’s culture.

Culture is influential, and often in churches, no one knows how the culture started or why things are the way they are. One of the things I encourage leaders to do when they walk into a new job is to ask why and how questions constantly. Why did this get started? Why do we do this? How did this start? One of my favorite questions is to ask, “What was the problem or issue that led to a meeting that resulted in this decision or way of doing things?” It gets at the why and the beginning, and then, you can ask, “Is that still an issue or a problem?”

I heard of one church that started something because of problems in the parking lot, but when those problems no longer existed, they wouldn’t make changes to their ministry because “we’ve always done it that way.” That’s culture.

What’s important to know is that culture isn’t bad. But it does determine things. And make no mistake, every church and family has a culture.

In his excellent book Look Before You Lead: How to Discern & Shape Your Church Culture, Aubrey Malphurs lists nine reasons values and culture matter to your church:

1. They determine ministry distinctives.
2. They dictate personal involvement.
3. They communicate what is important.
4. They guide change.
5. They influence overall behavior.
6. They inspire people to action.
7. They enhance credible leadership.
8. They shape ministry character.
9. They contribute to ministry success.

Here’s my encouragement for you. Look at this list and ask some questions:

• Is our culture clear?
• Are our values clear?
• Do we like our values and culture?
• Of the nine things listed above, would clarifying our values and culture help with any of those?

As we are starting a new year, figuring out what church in this polarized, covid world looks like, this is a perfect time to clarify who you are as a church and what matters most to you.