Word count – a bit over 800. Perhaps three minutes for a good reader.
"Everyone loves her," said the pastor. "She is the best Bible teacher for children that we have seen. So creative. She carries the whole ministry."
The story from this pastor continued in an interview with this kidmin superstar.
"After observing a few classrooms early on and being appalled at what I saw, I changed our whole design. Now I know that every weekend and at our weekday kid's experiences will be high quality."
"What happens when you are not here," I asked.
"Doesn't happen much." She replied.
What we have in this story is a superstar performer. One that now has a ministry and system built around their multiple gifts and talents.
This happens in many ministries, including Youth, Worship, Children's, Women's, Men's. Name any specialty area, and we can find them.
Some pastors brag to me: "We went out and found the best on platform worship leader we could and enticed them to come to join our team. We are so lucky to have them."
Or: "We know that we would be in deep trouble if our men's ministry leader left. He is a great teacher and draws many men in with his approach. We tried small groups for men but found we needed a strong teacher like him to put a crowd together of any size."
What we have in the above examples are classic ministry doers. The ministry in that area is built around their gifts and talents. If they ever left, the next leader is expected to mirror those same gifts and strengths.
Or, the ministry tends to be seen as "falling apart" if the crowd numbers drop.
Part of the thinking among pastors has to do with their background, training, and sense of giftedness. Most came up in ministry being rewarded and recognized for their speaking and teaching gifts developed mainly in an individualized way.
Or, they had team leadership gifts where they could lead a team of gifted performers.
Most churches instead need the developer mindset. This is the person that identifies, recruits, trains, deploys, and coaches team members to deliver the front-line ministry.
See the following chart:
Am I extreme? Of course. Consider these as polarities. Where would your key staff leaders be if the left side is one and the right is 10? Probably some score themselves closer to 5.
Ask them to rate themselves and if you are brave, each other.
It creates an essential conversation, though, as to what you need to move forward.
Good churches have key staff closer to the ten than the 1.
There is not a "wrong" answer on the polarity chart. But having too many key players closer to a score of 1 puts a lid on the future potential for growth, outreach, and leadership development.
Do we still need great performers and doers? YES. But they may not be the best ones to lead a growing and larger team to accomplish your church's mission.
This is a challenge to explain to many boards, key volunteers, and attenders though. They often feel a star performer will solve every situation.
My response is always that we need a star - a star at developing people, not being the star performer.
This also forces the question: What about the lead role? How are you reproducing teachers, pastors, and preachers? Do you have a systematic or even informal way always to raise up leaders to carry forth your own role?
This includes the teaching/preaching components and mentoring others for vision leadership, staff development, and core organization skills.
One way to do that is through a residency/intern/senior resident program that doesn't just focus on age-targeted or another targeted ministry alone. My colleague Greg Ligon and I coach churches in establishing or reframing their existing programs to help do that. If you would like a FREE coaching call, reach out at Greg.Ligon@generis.com.
What about Ted Lasso? See after the ad
Many of you have been very kind to request your free copy of the Pastor Legacy Life Plan booklet. If you are a US pastor and want a copy, email a request to linda.stanley@generis.com. The latest printing (the fourth!) comes in mid-September.
Last week I did a webinar with David Fletcher over at Xpastor.org about the material. Over a third of the group watching wanted a copy after the presentation.
It’s a conversation, not slides, and we had good questions.
To watch that presentation. Just click over here.
I always have a good time speaking with Fletch and the Xpastor group.
Article continues
Back to Ted. For those fans of Ted Lasso, an American football coach leading an English Soccer team, he knows what he doesn't know technically but finds a way to relate and motivate his players to perform. It's fiction, but you get the idea.
But what about your Dream Team of current performance leaders?
Realize that some are always going to be performers, not developers. What role could they play?
Are they willing to report and serve a developer leader? In a few cases in the music and youth space are traditions where couples or dual roles are employed, one serves as the key performer and the other the key planning/organizer trainer.
Where do you need to bite the bullet and insist on change?
How will you model the behavior to give them a good example?
For my clients in this predicament, I have helped design tools for when they are seeking new top-level staff to help them determine:
a. what they need and
b. how to evaluate the prospective team member for fit to the doer/developer paradigm.
I know this article is not going to make me popular with star staff performers, but the future of the church depends on developers.
On the Podcast - Great Things God Has Done
This week Bob Roberts, Jr.
Bob has always inspired me because he thinks like a missionary. That’s the stance we all need as we face today’s challenges.
Give a list to his episode here:
Like it, subscribe and listen to past episodes on your iTunes, Stitcher or find it on your favorite podcast app.
If you liked this issue, please consider sharing it with a friend.
Church Leader Insider comes from Dave Travis and Greg Ligon of Generis.
Dave is the Director of Strategic Counsel to Pastors and Church Boards. Contact him via email at Dave.Travis@Generis.com
Greg Ligon is the Senior Ministry Strategist for Lead Pastor Services. Contact him via email at Greg.Ligon@Generis.com