org comm guts paper

ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS: GUTS CHURCH Scheer 1
Guts Church Needs Assessment
Kennedy Scheer
Oral Roberts University
COM 300
21 April 2016
Table of Contents

Introduction/History...........................................................................................................3
Purpose of the organization................................................................................................4
Organizational culture.........................................................................................................6
Organizational climate........................................................................................................9
Relationships......................................................................................................................11
Rewards.............................................................................................................................13
Assessment.........................................................................................................................13
Recommendations..............................................................................................................14
References..........................................................................................................................16
A. Introduction/ History

Guts Church is a non-denominational, charismatic, spirit-filled church that is dedicated to
“Helping People Win”. The church has been around for twenty-three years and it has grown into
a world-wide community of believers. The church provides community for the church members
and it provides help for the community. The church has many outreach opportunities that the
members can volunteer at and the community can benefit from them. Outreaches like the Guts
Distribution Center, Friday Groceries and Team Relief are only a few of the outreaches that Guts
Church provides.
Guts Church was founded December of 1992. The church started with seven people and
has now grown to a home church congregation of over 5,000. The church’s senior pastors are
Bill and Sandy Scheer, who are also the founding pastors. The home church is located in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and now the church has two church campuses in Skiatook, Oklahoma and Sapulpa,
Oklahoma. The church took a hit with an event they had called Fight Night where a football
player from Tulsa University failed to mention a medical condition he had and had to be rushed
to the hospital where he later died. The church had to go through a lot of changing and a lot of
problems, but in the end the church came out stronger.
Following the incident, the church saw a rapid increase in members. The Lord really had
his hand on the whole situation. By 2014, the church had 4,000 members in just the two Sunday
morning services. The church was rapidly growing and had great income.
Although the church went through that tragic time, the church did not stop growing and
offering new opportunities. The church added an outreach called Friday Groceries that feeds out
of the Guts Distribution Center. Friday Groceries started out as a place where the church would
distribute groceries to people who need it. The head pastor, Bill Scheer, said “It’s a place where
needy people can get the help they need, no questions asked”. As time went on and more people

started coming to get groceries, they decided to add a church service before they handed out
groceries. Now, the service is huge every week and in January of 2016 they added a Tuesday
grocery service so more people can get helped each week.
Team Relief is a group of people that help with disaster relief around the Oklahoma area.
Team Relief started when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Guts Church sent a group of
people ready and willing to help with whatever they needed. As the years went on, Team Relief
grew into something really the whole church got involved in. Chano Trevino, the Assistant
pastor of Guts Church said, “Pastor always says that its hard to ignore people in need when you
see it with your own eyes and I think that is why Team Relief has become such a standard in our
church.”
The three main events of Guts Church are The Tougher Than Hell Motorcycle Rally, The
Nightmare and The Guts Girls Brunch. The Motorcycle Rally is a rally of bikers in the Tulsa
area that all come together for a bike ride. All the proceeds of the Motorcycle Rally go to helping
orphans in Haiti. To date, the church has dug 20 fresh water wells and they are still continuing.
The Nightmare is a hell-house outreach in October that saves 10,000 people every year in
October. The Guts Girls Brunch is a girl’s event that brings everyone together for fellowship and
entertainment. There is always an amazing speaker and the themes are phenomenal.
B. Purpose of the Organization
Guts Church is dedicated to “Helping People Win”, which is the church’s motto. The
church definitely uses a Human Resources approach in the office and with its staff members. The
church uses a team mentality, where the pastor is the coach, the lead (management) team are the
positions coaches and the staff members are the players. It’s a very, one goes we all go,
mentality. The pastor (boss) cares about all of the staff members but most of all he cares about

the productivity of his church. Human Resources is about being concerned with both people and
production, which is exactly what the church is concerned about.
The church strives to reach people in every stage of life: in middle school and high
school, college aged students, young adults just joining the work force, new families, and older
couples as well. They do this by offering volunteer outreaches, fun, upbeat services, “safe,
clean, fun” children services. For example, if you’re a family with four kids, all under the age of
twelve, the first thing you care about is how your kids will be taken care of and if its safe.
Because of that mindset the church has made it a priority to keep the children’s area safe, clean
and fun. They may ask the families for feedback. For example, “Did you enjoy your time in the
Nursing Mothers’ room?” and “How was the pick up and drop off?” By asking the families about
their experience in the kid’s department then the staff members and volunteers can pin point the
problems and work together to find a solution that works for everyone involved.
Their products and services include aspects of both personal and business. For the
personal portion it includes relationships with the members, bible studies, Guts Kids GK Jam
that is every summer, youth summer camps, fall and spring retreats, and that is just hitting a
couple ways that the church is on a personal level.
The business part of the church tries to attract not only new members but wealthy, high
class members. As much as everyone hates to think about it, the church runs on money and
tithing and giving is a way that we show our devotion and love to the Lord. The growth of the
church, not people, but building space, materials, reconstruction and expansion is dependent on
the giving members of the church. Guts Church provides their staff with training and education
on how to answer any and every question that a member may have about the spending of the
tithe and offering. For example, they have changed the way they hire staff. Every staff member is

hired out of a program called the “Guts Church Internship”. The internship is a year long
program that disciples and trains the interns in every part of the church. Each month they get a
new track that they have to serve in; a track is a part of the church, for example, there is a Guts
Girls track, a Sub30 track, a youth track, a Guts Kids track, a business track, a media track, and
many more. At the end of the internship, they are offered a position to be a Graduate Assistant or
on staff. The GA program is a continuation of the internship that gives you housing and a
stipend. If they have truly grown in the internship and the pastor realizes that, the lead
(management) team discusses and they offer you a position.
The Guts Church mission statement is “Help People Win” which they live by every day.
Their main mission is to help people win in the church and in every area of their lives. Every
person on staff and every volunteer has given into this mission statement and it is a statement the
whole church body has built their life around.
C. Organizational Culture
An organization is a dynamic system in which individuals engage in collective efforts for
goal accomplishment. Every organization has its own defining characteristics such as collective
beliefs, values, and expectations regarding communication that make up the organizational
culture. These characteristics are formed by formal and informal communication processes
which include: rituals, stories, metaphors, symbols, and myths.
The culture of Guts Church is people-oriented, a fun atmosphere and a safe environment.
Through my observations I could see that everyone has a high level of respect for each other and
values the other people in the church family. At Guts Church employees take their jobs seriously
and work hard to make sure every member is satisfied and falls in love with the church. Because

of the nature of the pay structure for the staff members they are quite driven to achieve goals and
work hard. Their income is salaried like the office staff but they can climb the “ladder” in which
lead (management) team members get paid significantly more than normal leveled staff. The
church definitely has a small, “family business” type feel, where friendly competition with
numbers of people in each department. Just like how sales associates compete with how much of
their product they sale, in the same sense, the departments in the church are in competition with
one another on how many people they have attend their specific area. The lead (management)
team has the liberty to do things different from time to time and make adjustments to staff
positions as they see fit. They are available for staff members and work very closely with them
so there is nothing that is unapproachable. I interviewed the Receptionist of the church and she
stated, “I loved how everyone truly cared about one another and cared about the members of the
church. Everyone wanted to see everyone succeed and would do anything for one another. It is
truly a family here and I am so blessed to be surrounded by believers who are all running the
same race and in the same lane.”
The rules of the church are very clearly communicated upon hiring. All employees
receive an employee handbook that covers things like dress code, office hours, office etiquette,
etc. It also includes many rules and standards that every staff, GA and intern have to live by. It is
rules that the church believes are sin and the handbook goes into detail the standards that every
staff member must live by. When interviewing one of the staff members for the church she
stated, “It is so great to set standards for your own life but to know that people love you enough
to set standards for you is truly humbling. Knowing that they are not doing it to get us in trouble
but because they know our value and worth is something I will never take for granted.”

Every church has its own unique way to motivate and celebrate their staff members.
While walking around the office area I saw a wall of pictures of every individual staff member
handing on it. Each picture had an index card taped below it and on that card were hand written
goals for each staff member for 2016. When asked about the pictures a staff member stated,
“Everyday we come into the office and we have to look at our picture and read our goal aloud.
Sometimes people can hear you and sometimes no one is around but it doesn’t matter because
once you say your goal aloud, even to yourself, you feel like you’re one step closer to that goal.
We also are required to put our hand on another picture on the wall and pray blessings and God’s
promises over another staff member. It truly makes you feel involved in another persons goals
when you have taken time out of your day to pray for them. It truly makes us feel like we are all
on the same team.”
Some formal rituals that are a part of Guts Church’s culture are “Staff Meetings”. These
take place every Monday morning at 8:30 sharp. These meetings last for about an hour and it is a
summary of how the weekend went. One interviewer stated, “There is rarely a weekend where
only a church service happened, there is always an event or something going on at the church.”
At these meetings each staff member is supposed to give a report on what happened this
weekend, what went well and what did not, and how they can get better. The same interviewer
said, “Pastor Bill always leads the staff meetings and it always feels like a team huddle, where
we state what happened and how to make it better in order to win the game.” Most meetings are
fun and light-hearted and sometimes Pastor Bill will give out fun incentives to the staff members.
One interviewer said, “One Monday I had all my bases covered and all my spots filled and it was
the first Sunday since I started that I had done it all on my own. Pastor Bill recognized me and

gave me the afternoon off to go and treat myself to a pedicure. It truly is a blessing to work under
someone that can tell you straight up how it is, but then reward you when you deserve it.”
An informal ritual I observed were department meetings that took place right after the
formal staff meeting. Each department took all their staff members, interns and GA’s and talked
about what they could do better for the next weekend within their department. When I asked an
interviewer about these meetings he said, “It is not required, it is something that the media
department started a while ago and every department just followed suit. It gives us time to look
at just our department and find the problems and fix them other than looking at the whole church
as a whole and trying to fix that.” Each meeting lasted for about thirty minutes and then they all
went back to work.
Each staff member, GA and intern is required to go through the “Next Steps” program,
which is a program every member has to go through. In this program you learn about how the
church was started and what it has turned into today. As I did not find any myths, this story is
one every employee knew like the back of their hand.
One symbol that is associated with Guts Church is their big red “G”, which symbolizes
the strength and simplicity of the church. Overall, the culture of the organization is a friendly,
family-like staff that works together to make the church, and the world, a better place.
D. Organizational Climate
Organizational Climate is best described as how employees feel about their work. The
way that the company, or church, is structured directly reflects the differences in climate between
departments. For example, there are four major groups within the church staff. There is the lead
(management) team, the staff, the graduate assistants, and the interns. The lead team includes the
five people that every department flows through. The departments they are over fall into each

five lead team member. For example, the Guts Girls department, the children and youth
department, and the care team and Team Guts department are all under lead team member A.
The second group is the staff; the staff has a department that each of them oversee. For example,
one staff member is over the Guts Youth Church, but that staff member reports to the lead team
member A. The third group is the graduate assistants. These people have gone through the
internship but are still not ready to be over a department. They are under a staff member
department head and they get things done for each individual department. For example, the
graduate assistant that is under the Guts Youth Church staff member, job is to make sure the
service order is in the computer twenty-four hours before the church services that are every
Wednesday night at 7pm. The last group is the interns. When interviewing the Pastor (boss) he
said, “The interns are the lifeblood of the church, nothing could happen without them. But the
internship is a year long process that is going to strain them and squeeze them so they can grow.
It is not an internship for the weak.”
Every employee I talked with gushed about how driven the physical work environment
was. The building used to be a warehouse and has just undergone some major renovations. The
office space is strategically laid out in mind for each department. The office space was clean and
bright, with a lot of windows and bright, warm colors on the walls. The furniture was up to date
and the decorating of the office really gave me a sense of what each staff members personality
was.
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory says that extrinsic factors such as salary and
working environments are important and need to be satisfied but are not considered motivational
factors. Motivation factors include value of work, recognition, advancement, responsibility, and
achievement. I think this theory is proven correct within Guts Church. This group is highly

motivated to work together to get the job done. One interviewer said, “There is rarely a day
where you only work on your specific project or department. Everyone is asking everyone for
ideas and help and every person on staff usually volunteers for events they were not even a part
of initially. The church really takes an “all hands on deck” approach to work.
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y are theories that described how managers view their
employee’s work ethic and it shows how they manage in response to that point of view. Theory
X managers are sometimes seen as micromanagers and view their employees work ethic as lazy,
lacking ambition, indifferent to the organization beyond their paycheck, resistant to change, and
not very smart. In contrast, Theory Y managers trust their employees more and give them more
responsibility. They view their employees as smart and creative. They are open to new ideas and
are people who exhibit self-direction and pride themselves in their work. They value their
employees and are aware of the unique contributions that they make to the overall organization.
My observations would say that Guts Church style mostly resembles Theory Y. The lead
team gives information and help usually only when sought out or needed and the staff members
really do keep things from getting too much. Each staff member not only has their GA’s and
interns but also volunteers within the church body. The pastor trusts the lead team to make sure
their departments are running smoothly and without a hitch. In return, the staff members feel a
sense of responsibility and empowerment when given this amount of trust. They are not micro-
managed robots who cannot thing for themselves, it leaves room for creativity and new, fresh
ideas
E. Relationships
Guts Church employees all stated that many of the reasons they enjoy working at the
church so much is because of the family atmosphere and the fun people they get to work with.

One interviewer stated, “I never have to dread coming into work because I know my best friends
will be there.”
Guts Church’s communication network can best be described as open. Within the Tulsa
office the communication is very open and often face-to-face. They communicate frequently
through emails as well. Another portal they use is a website called BaseCamp. If anyone on staff
needs something from another department they can put the request in on BaseCamp and it is
much more structured and organized. One of the people from the media department I interviewed
said, “BaseCamp is a God-sent for my department. Every other department always needs the
media department to either make something for them or approve it and it can get very stressful.
With BaseCamp everything is organized and everyone gets what they need while my department
does not want to pull their hair out every five minutes.”
The flow of Guts Church’s communication is “downward”. Downward communication is
where all levels of authority within departments and within the hierarchy of the organization
communication is equally open. All the employees have someone they report to or take orders
from. The downward communication flows from the Pastor to the lead team to the staff members
to the GA’s to the interns to the volunteers and members of the church.
Most every organization has someone who is the “gatekeeper”; someone who holds the
information about all the different departments. Rebecca, the Pastor’s assistant is considered by
other staff members as the person to go to for information. If anyone has any questions about
events or anything that has to do with the church they go to Rebecca.
The firing process at Guts Church is a little different than a business. If the employee is
not holding up the standards that the church has placed in the handbook then they have a meeting
with the lead team. Then, after the meeting with the lead team, the lead team goes to the pastor

and explains the situation. After that, the pastor makes the final decision on what happens to the
employee.
H. Rewards
At Guts Church, they are very generous in the rewards they give their staff. Like I said
before, in their weekly meetings they can get fun extras. Another thing they do is a staff getaway
day where they take the staff on a fun day trip. Last year, the getaway trip was to the lake where
they rented boats and spent the day on the water.
Another reward is the goal wall. As I said before, there is a wall with all the staff
member’s pictures and their goals written out underneath. Once a staff member hits a goal, they
put a sticker on their picture on the wall so everyone knows that they hit their goal. At the next
staff meeting they get to stand up and explain how they met their goal and then the staff decides
on what to do. Sometimes the staff picks a lunch that they all go to together to celebrate or
sometimes they’ll get a day off.
Every staff member also gets health benefits and a Christmas bonus. One interviewer
said, “The rewards are truly a perk of working at Guts, but the real reward comes from the Lord.
As cheesy as it sounds, I know that I’m doing what I’m called to do and that is rewarding
enough.”
F. Assessment
The Guts Church office atmosphere is a fun, friendly place to work. It is highly motivated
and professional in the way the business is run. They strive to operate in honesty and excellence
while staying in their lane and getting the job done. Their staff members are motivated and
driven to get the job done and to do it well.

After observing Guts Church I can say that the church has great overall communication
and organization. Without it, the church would crumble and fail. The church makes sure to
provide a healthy workplace as well as a spiritual atmosphere. Relationships within the staff
members are healthy and strong, they enjoy working together and they enjoy doing their jobs.
They are all like a family and they are very team-oriented. There is a high sense of empowerment
to do their job and there is a high sense of satisfaction with knowing that they are working for the
kingdom of God. The staff members know how to work together to get their jobs done which in
reward, makes them very successful in what they do.
G. Recommendations
The first recommendation I would make is to hire a staff manager. There needs to be
someone who can fully focus on everyone’s job and the way they communicate with one
another. I think the staff manager should do all the firing and hiring and changing in job
description and titles. I believe this person would have to be very organized and friendly, but also
needs to have a hardened side for when the job gets hard. I think a staff manager would help with
the confusion on who to go with with any questions or ideas that anyone may have.
Secondly, I believe every lead team member should have an assistant. While they do their
job very well, it is hard to take care of all their responsibilities and stay organized. An assistant
would be able to keep their schedule organized and to take notes in their meetings. The lead team
spends most of their time in meetings, therefore they do not have a lot of time to do their actual
job. I think an assistant would bring organization and relaxation to the job.
Thirdly, I believe there needs to be a staff member specifically over the internship. That
staff member would be over all the administration, housing, rules, curriculum, and meals for the
interns. I believe this would bring structure and organization to the internship. This person would

also be very involved in the choosing process and in the hiring process after the year of the
internship is over.

References
K’lee, Receptionist (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
Bill, Pastor (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 4.
Nina, Lead Team member (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
Chano, Lead Team member (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
Andrew, Youth Director (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
Evan, Graduate Assistant (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
Daniel, intern (2016). Personal interview conducted on April 5.
.

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