How To Work Through The Tension That Terrorizes Your Ministry

It had been a long summer and finally the first weekend of fall programming had arrived. I was not looking forward to it. We had just made the decision to move our high school program from Sundays to Thursdays. The move on paper looked good, but something in my gut told me this was going to fail. I started to second guess my decisions, that is until teens started to show up.

The night turned out to be a success and that evening was the first of many for a ministry that grew. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last angst filled day in ministry.

I’m not a big worrier but I do get anxious. It’s a mix of worry and nervousness regarding whether or not my ministry will succeed. It’s a tension many of us face especially when it comes to:

Developing a dynamic team of volunteer leaders

We not only want more volunteers but we want the ones we have to do more. The challenge that many of us face when it comes to developing a dynamic team is letting go of control.

By letting go of control a tension forms. That tension is linked to:

• A reluctance to any type of failure
• Not getting the credit we feel we might deserve
• The ability to spend more time on investing in leaders when there isn’t a lot of time.

It’s a normal feeling and it isn’t a bad one if you move through it. If you want to work through the tension you need to have open communication. Talk with your team as you give them clarity with what you are experiencing so that they can help you help them.

Building up buy-in and enthusiasm from teenagers

Even if our ministry isn’t about the numbers we feel joy and disappointment when the attendance fluctuates. When the numbers dip we think about finding different ways of getting them up quickly. We are tempted by quick solutions like:

• Giving away free food or awesome prizes
• Playing some crazy and messy games
• Bringing in a BIG NAME speaker
• Making attendance mandatory

Some of these tactics work, but only in the short term. To grow a healthy ministry you need a long term strategy focused on irresistible environments and Christ-filled relationships.

As you engage in your strategy measure the results of your decisions, make some tweaks and keep moving. There will be some good moments but some rough ones too and that’s okay. It’s a part of the journey.

Trusting that God will provide you with what you need to succeed

There is what you want, and then there is Gods plan. When they align it feels great, but when your plans don’t match God’s it can be challenging.

We all have desires for our ministry to succeed but how that happens depends on how much you trust God. God is going to ask us to do things we might now want to do like:

• Talk to a parent that intimidates us 
• Let go of a volunteer who has served with you for years
• Approach your pastor about a decision he made that you didn’t like

Those situations can be filled with angst, but God wants us to lean into the tension because it can:

• Help us discover the solution to a bigger problem
• Grow in our confidence as a leaders

To work through that tension we need to build up our trust in God. Committing to a regular prayer life, recording your journey and attending spiritual counseling will help.

Ministry will always be filled with tension and that’s because it’s a growing process. It’s in the tension where you will learn how to handle difficult decisions. It’s in the tension where you will learn how to be a leader.

What words of wisdom have helped you embrace the tension that ministry brings?

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