The Business of Making Ministry Like a Family
We have something like 50 ministers in our student ministry (5th -12th grade), that’s a significant change from when I first started with 12...
Ministers Are Like…
Christopher Wesley
Jul 3, 2011
You know you are getting old when you have to think about whether or not you can stay up to watch a movie at 10pm. The other night I joined a few of my ministers to go see a movie. It was a great time because they are good guys and I enjoy hanging out with my team. I feel the more that I share life with them, the stronger the team grows. That’s not my initial intention to hang out with them, but that’s just what I see happening. The relationships and friendships that I’ve formed have been such a blessing.
In the earlier years of my ministry I saw a lot of turnover in our ministry teams and probably due to the fact that I saw them as people who were supposed to make my life easier. I did team bonding experiences and seasonal ministry get togethers, but I needed to see the ministers more than a work force. Ministers are more than that, in fact they are like:
- Family: Granted you are doing a job together but you need to treat them like family. If you want them to support, love, and carry you, you need to show them that you care about them. How are you allowing them to get to know you, how are you inviting them into your life?
- An Investment: You want the best out of your ministry, invest in your leaders. Get to know them, get to know their families, and discover their potential. If you treat them like labor, you’ll use them up and spit them out. Ministers need to be looked at as a long term investment.
- Vision Carriers: When it comes down to why we do what we do it’s about growing young disciples. The way that’s done is by casting the vision of Jesus Christ through the Gospel. If you aren’t giving that vision to your ministers all you have is an activity filled, temporary youth group. You need your team to carry the vision.
If you want to know how to grow your capacity as a youth minister, you are going to have to focus on the relationship you have with people in your ministry team. So, how do you spend time with them, share life with them and get to know them? Do you do things that are unique to show them how you care?
If you find yourself saying, “I’m can’t invest in them, because there are too many.” know that you are shortchanging your ministry. You just need to focus on a few to build a culture, where ministers feel like family, they’ll feel the investment and the burden to carry the vision of Christ. So start investing, loving and sharing life with your team.
How do you view your ministers?
How do you develop trust, communication and fellowship with them?