Chris Tomlin, you stink. Because of you I am leading my the high school program tonight. I know, sounds kind of funny coming from the Director fo Student Ministry. Okay, Chris Tomlin you don’t stink, but because you are in town tonight it seems as if most if not all my key ministry leaders are coming to your concert. What that means is I’m kind of on my own. But that’s okay, because they gave me plenty of notice and made sure that the other ministers were ready to step up and take their place. In fact (just to brag a little) I probably still won’t have to lead solo tonight because I’m surrounded by some of the greatest ministers in the world. What makes them great:
- Replacement Artist: As I mentioned before they know how to replace themselves. You as a leader should be replacing yourself, they should be doing the same. That way you build layers so that when one man or woman goes down you keep moving.
- Vision Casting Fiends: It’s not about a game, or getting an agenda across, these minister bite into your vision, live it when they serve and pass it on to friends and parents outside the ministry. They aren’t just servers, they are advocates.
- Bullet Takers: They own their share and yours on top of it. When you succeed they love it, even if it was them doing the work, when you fail they take it, because they love you, the teenagers and God. They think what’s best for the ministry before what’s best for them.
- Family Ambassadors: They might be single, they might have a dozen kids, but they understand family is important in every way. If you need to be home because your family needs you, they’ll step in. They never use ministry as an excuse to get away from family. They introduce you to their family and even make you a part of it.
So how do you get the ministers that make you look good, and help you feel like your job is a piece of cake?
- Pray For Them: Yeah, I know duh, but consider this your reminder that God blesses you with these people so pray for them.
- Excellent Ministry Attracts Excellent Leaders: If your ministry looks like chaos, clean it up. Now before you push back and say, “Chris I work with middle schoolers.” hear me out. No one wants to be captain of a sinking ship. So if your ministry is dysfunctional it won’t attract anyone great.
- Be A Servant Leader: Great leaders attract great leaders. If you feel like your leaders are really just helpers think about whether you are actually leading or dictating. Are you delegating or just hoping people ‘get it’?
In the end there really is no 100% guaranteed to work formula to grab the best ministers. On the other hand there are plenty of ways to turn them away. It all starts with being able to identify them and then when you can do that you just need to be intentional and personal with who you invite. The more great ministry leaders you can obtain the more great ministers you can attract.
What defines a great ministry leader for you?