June 30, 2006

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Let's build a church with God:

One of the keys to advancing the gospel is for the church to be made up of individuals who consider it their task to do the work of the ministry, rather than having a congregation who expect the paid staff to minister to them. It’s the task of the leaders to train God’s people for ministry.

 

In a small church, the preacher and a handful of volunteers usually do most of the work themselves, and they directly oversee the rest of it. The leaders are often exhausted and near the point of burnout. If you don’t learn to motivate others and hand the responsibility to them, you might be able to oversee two hundred people. That’s why many churches never grow beyond 150 or so members.

 

The church should be a circle where members minister to each other. Inside the circle is a series of smaller circles, each one representing another ministry. You grow the church by adding circles of ministry inside the encompassing circle of the church. When the church becomes a circle instead of a pyramid, Christ gets the glory instead of the guy at the top of the pyramid.

 

As a church begins to grow there is a temptation to hire more staff to do the work of ministry, but this practice runs the risk of reducing the congregation to an audience. If the members of the congregation begin to sense that they are not needed, then growth will be stifled. Healthy churches that are gaining new members expect more out of their members, not less.

 

Involvement enhances each person’s spiritual growth. Nothing helps you grow as a Christian like service. If your church is not providing opportunities for your members to serve, you are stifling their spiritual growth. If the staff are working too hard, its because they have not recruited enough help. One of the best ways to see members grow in Christ is to get them exercising their spiritual gifts and serving Christ.

 

Offer a spiritual gifts class. You can talk about the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament; have participants take personality tests, write about their spiritual journey, and their spiritual passions. If you involve people in their area of giftedness their ministries will be more effective and the chance of burnout is greatly reduced.

 

Have an annual volunteer recruitment day. It helps congregation members realize the need when every ministry is recruiting at the same time. Volunteers can choose the ministry that best utilizes their gifts. Volunteers are more likely to commit to a one year task. An annual recruitment drive unites the congregation in an effort to accomplish something.

 

Some positions take a certain skill level and personality that will be a little tougher to find. Some tasks are too important to leave to the first person who volunteers. Once a qualified person is in place, the key to successfully delegating the task is to delegate the responsibility. A qualified volunteer will often do a better job than you would if you give him complete responsibility.

 

When reliable volunteers oversee a ministry, the volunteers are often more forceful as leaders that the staff people are. They take ownership of that ministry A leader who wants to increase his effectiveness must learn how to work himself out of certain tasks. The senior minister sets the tone for successful delegation in the way he delegates to his staff.

You must trust your leaders and not interfere with their decisions.

Be sure to look for our podcast today! We'll wrap up the week with some good news along with our tips. Until then, thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

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