Those with seminary degrees in pastoral ministry can often feel equipped to preach God’s word, care for the hurting, and protect the church from false teaching but feel ill-equipped to lead the church as an organization. Franklin Markow’s Organizational Behavior in Christian Perspective is an attempt to help church leaders lead their churches better via insights gleaned from the discipline, well-known in the business world, of organizational behavior. He defines organizational behavior as “the study of people in organizations—how they relate to one another in an organizational context, how they relate to the organization itself, and how the organization relates to its people” (p. 4). This means that Markow’s work does not look at the “hard side” of management (finance, policy, HR, legal compliance) but the “soft side” of management (effectively leading and managing people).

With the intended goal of introducing organizational behavior to church leaders, Markow supplies a fivefold schema for understanding the different levels of organizational life. These levels are the Individual, Interpersonal Relationships, Groups, Organizational Culture, and Interorganizational Connection. Each level explains how individuals relate to organizations, how these individuals relate to one another in that organization, and how this all cultivates an organizational culture. Markow’s work is comprehensive but short enough for busy pastors to read. He defines and explains each level and offers tips on how to manage each level properly. Helpfully, most of Markow’s illustrations are situated in the church setting, with a case study presented at the end of each chapter.

Markow’s work offers practical insight into the nexus between organizational thinking and the life of the local church. This is illustrated by his discussions in three areas: the organizational nature of the church, interpersonal relationships, and group dynamics.

First, Markow argues that when a local church gathers there an organization gathers as well. Too often church leaders ignore this reality and, in their language, narrow the church down to a single metaphor—e.g., “The church is not an organization; it is an organism” or “Our church is really a family.” Markow contends that if church leaders only view the church through one lens, they overlook the richness and importance of other dimensions of church life (notably, the organizational).

Further, Markow makes the point that the church is indeed a “spiritual reality” created by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit but at the same time is “a very human entity.” He states, “While we have a clear understanding and theology of the divine nature of the church—well-reasoned ecclesiologies, polities, and qualifications for eldership—it is my contention that we have a very underdeveloped understanding of the human nature of the church” (p. 12). This, he argues, is a consequence of the New Testament’s silence regarding the details of church organization and form. Markow is not claiming, however, that the New Testament is completely silent on these matters, simply that it is “largely” silent on them. In light of this, Markow’s work is an attempt to further develop our practical theology of the church by using the tool of organizational behavior and in a way that can be applied to episcopal, presbyterian, or congregational forms of polity.

As such, Markow’s argument will work well for those who are comfortable seeing the church as both an organism and an organization. However, readers who need some additional convincing that the church should be understood in these terms will have to look elsewhere in order to substantiate his claims (for example, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything, 3rd ed. [Sydney: Matthias Media, 2024] or Andrew Heard, Growth and Change: The Danger and Necessity of a Passion for Church Growth [Sydney: Matthias Media, 2024]).

Second, Organizational Behavior offers illuminating explanations of common issues often found within the church. Markow’s chapter on interpersonal relationships helpfully illustrates this point. He begins with the observation that “ministry is a people-focused endeavor, and our personal relationships can determine our effectiveness or lack thereof” (p. 84). Markow then works through the issues of trust, safety, work family (explained below), and work friendships. In regard to safety he writes, “When people do not feel safe, they are less likely to share their opinions, make valuable contributions, and allow others to see who they truly are” (p. 91). This lack of safety can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Markow then suggests that church leaders should embrace the responsibility of leading in this area and work to reduce people’s fear of open conversations. Ultimately, good leaders will want to achieve “challenger safety,” where people feel safe to speak up and challenge conventional wisdom when they think there is an opportunity to improve.

Third, it is easy to see how interpersonal relationships naturally overflow into the group level. Seeing the church as a work family also suggests that emotions are shared among people in the same system. For example, “If one member is feeling stressed, others in the system will feel stress in one way or another” (p. 95). Often if there are weak interpersonal relationships when a tension arises people will attempt to distance themselves from the tension, engage head on with the conflict, give up on doing their job, or attempt to do someone else’s job, or even triangulate (bringing in a third party to address the issue). In contrast, Markow suggests that leaders take steps to develop positivity in the workplace (before adopting a challenger mentality), consistently spend time with people week-in and week-out, and model vulnerability with others.

This bleeds over into a key distinction between groups and teams. All teams are groups, but not all groups are teams. In short, “a team is a group but one with much more autonomy and shared responsibility” (p. 111). This is important for church leaders because “a small group or ministry that starts off with gusto and achieves its goals may, in time, deteriorate into nothing more than a social group” (p. 121). Often, this leads to a phenomenon known as “groupthink.” Groupthink occurs when excessive homogeneity (same background, age, experience) has created an echo chamber, leaving the group closed off to other perspectives. Further, these groups in the church will often engage in an “escalation of commitment” (sometimes investing additional resources into failing causes). As a result, such groups are prone to “collectively stick to their guns, so to speak, to prove they are right” (p. 122). Managing some of the more problematic dynamics of groups can be alleviated if leaders regularly change membership of their groups, are intentional about bringing in diverse points of view, give members permission to dissent, and appoint a “devil’s advocate” to lovingly challenge the group’s presuppositions. Leaders can manage better when they strive to coach teams instead.

Organizational Behavior is not only a helpful book for pastors and church leaders; in my view, it is essential reading for all who wish to shepherd God’s church with wisdom. While the book can occasionally be overwhelming, each chapter is filled with practical insights on organizational leadership that will certainly aid in pastoral leadership. Pastors, I can think of no better way of commending this book than saying that your congregation will thank you for reading it.