Ordering pizza brings me anxiety. I know that’s something you don’t expect to hear from a seasoned youth minister but it’s the truth. For some reason I have this fear of the food not showing up or it not being enough. Because somewhere in my mind there I believe that with a lack of food people will riot and overthrow me, leading to the loss of my job, my wife and children leaving me and I’m all alone. Seriously, ordering food brings me stress.
You might not believe me and that’s okay, but there are areas of our ministry we would rather not do. Those areas need to be passed along and delegated because the amount of time we spend worrying or stressing over a certain task can take us away from what matters most. If you don’t share the burden and responsibility of ministry its easy to lose site of what’s most important.
I think we all know it, the problem is actually following through with delegating. It’s not a skill we are all natural at performing, but it’s so essential. If you want to delegate effectively you need to stat with:
You may know what you need to do, but can you clearly communicate that to your team? One of the issues we face with volunteers is not having the roles and responsibilities of running a ministry laid out. Creating job descriptions and an organizational chart might seem like overkill but it’s a great way of:
People are more likely to say, “YES” when they know what’s expected of them. When you have a structure with specific roles it’ll help you manage and lead your team, which will help you delegate and get things off of your plate.
One of the big struggles we have with delegation is identifying the right people for the right task. We might have a committed volunteer who has a big vision for your ministry, but setting up tables and chairs is a struggle. No two volunteers are alike and finding the right place to put them can be a challenge. After you identify the roles that need to be filled, it’s important to put the people who own those gifts, and talents in them. It’s important to sit down with potential volunteers and interview them. If your parish does a gift assessment use it to help you place people where they will succeed. It may seem like extra work, but its a lot less than dealing with the stress of having the wrong people in the wrong places.
While you should constantly recruit for your ministry it’s important to know that some seasons are better than others. It also depends on what you are asking people to do. I’ve found that the beginning of a new year and, right after Easter and late fall are optimal times to make a major appeal. People are in the mindset to do something different and are probably more likely to say, “Yes.”
You also have to look at when the rest of the parish making requests of the parishioners. For example, you might want to avoid asking for volunteers when the church is making a big stewardship push or inviting people to get involved in an outreach event. While your ministry needs might seem dire when you present people with too many options they can get overwhelmed and not decide anything at all. TimING matters.
Before, you get overwhelmed with another task ask yourself, “Who else can do this?” If the answer is anyone but “Me” then you know you need to ask someone. Yes, you will face some rejection and it can be hard to hear it, but as you understand the need and clarify the task you’ll get better at asking. And like anything delegating takes practice, but you have to first get started, so go for it.