7 Practices of Effective Ministry
1. Understand Your Leadership Strengths
As a church leader, the responsibility of running and planning ministry effectively falls on your shoulders. Remember you have not ended up in this role by accident, but because God has faith in your strengths and abilities. In order to thrive in this role, you must actively self-review to understand your personality type and its flaws and work on improving yourself.
Once you know your leadership strengths, you are ready to select your workers. Leaders often make the mistake of choosing ministry team members with similar qualities, assuming it will make working together easier. The truth is that successful teams contain a variety of people with different skills and strengths, so make sure to include a range of people in your team.
2. Determine Essential Ministries
Ask yourself what the essential ministries at your church are, and assign a ministry management team leader to each one. Building an environment of sub-leadership empowers workers of all levels to take responsibility and develop their skills while streamlining the efforts at your church. Unless you only have a handful of congregants, one leader will never be enough in your ministry team!
Home Business highlights that sub-leaders can relieve stress on church team leaders, freeing up essential time in their day to oversee the bigger picture. Training more people in leadership also means you have a reserve of strong-minded and capable individuals ready to help when needed.
3. Craft Clear Job Descriptions
Attracting the right fit for a job requires a clear and concise job description. If it's too vague, you could end up overwhelmed with applicants who lack the skill set to thrive in this position. The more information included in your job descriptions, the more likely you are to get serious applicants.
Job description templates for churches are available online for free, so getting specific won't be too much of a chore. We have compiled a list of 10 volunteer job descriptions for family ministry to help you finetune your job adverts. Find almost anything you can think of, from directories to budgets to holiday forms, on Free Church Forms.
4. Set Expectations for Volunteers
Church volunteers are the backbone of ministry, as their hard work facilitates the day-to-day running of everything. Avoid disappointed workers and volunteers by setting expectations exactly where they need to be, so new volunteers know where they stand from the moment they join your team. Be honest with prospective volunteers before they start, or they might just quit!
Clearly outline their role and responsibilities to prevent them from feeling lost in the early days, and explain your expectations too. A successful ministry management team will look after its volunteers as it encourages commitment and longevity. Check out this blog for a deeper dive into the importance of setting expectations in your ministry team.
5. Offer Training to Each Team Member
As there are endless elements to consider, the question “how to build a ministry?” doesn’t have a simple answer. But if we had to pick an answer to this question, it would be providing continual training opportunities for consistent growth and development. Everyone at your church should be on the path of self-improvement, whether a longstanding church leader or a newly assigned volunteer.
Offering training opportunities to every member of your team demonstrates that you care. The skills they develop at your training sessions will be transferable and benefit them in every corner of their lives. Building an online training hub gives your team the freedom to pick and choose how much extra work they can handle, so their development is in their own hands.
6. Clear Communication Channels
A ministry team should function as one, with everyone’s efforts leading towards the same overarching goal. The best way to facilitate this is with clear communication channels that keep everyone on the same page. You could opt for a church messaging system or a workplace system like Slack. Set up sub-groups for each ministry section to facilitate meaningful conversation in smaller groups.
Take it even further and set up meetings between leaders and their workers. This creates a safe space for sharing feedback and monitoring progress, keeping efforts focused. If you are wondering how to grow your ministry, clear communication is essential as it urges conversation, helping church leaders discover new ways of improving processes and saving time.
7. Invest in Quality Church Software
The people behind the team are a central element of how to run a successful ministry, but the tools they have at their disposal make a huge difference too. Church management software is anything that assists with managing and running day-to-day tasks, lightening the workload on your ministry team.
Church presentation software like Playlister makes running kids' ministry a breeze. Instead of manually sharing the curriculum content, Playlister automatically sends it to the right classroom at the right time. Investing in premium software is essential if you are wondering how to grow your ministry.
Conclusion
Activities that encourage team building for church leaders will create an environment of friendship and belonging. Remember that ministry building requires leadership, organization, communication, and care – invest in your team today.