A lot of things are important for ministry. Some things can be outsourced (like investing in Orange curriculum) and some things can only be accomplished by you (only you can personally talk to people at your church). Your top ministry priority should be to invest your time in things that you do that have the most impact. This is important because you don’t want to spend energy on things that don’t make a big difference (compared to the amount of work they take).
At Prairie Lakes, Rob and his team were able to save hours of clock time by using the same mission slide at each campus instead of creating six different location-specific mission slides. Obviously, you and your team will need to determine which things should be streamlined and what should be kept specialized. This may require a few deep conversations, but in the end it is important to pick a plan and rally everyone behind it.
“It’s important to disagree and commit. Picking the best path for your entire ministry is something that your whole team needs to be supportive of once the decision is made.”
Your time is valuable and can generate different results based on how it is spent.
“Kids pastors can have a greater impact if they spend an hour on a Zoom call with families rather than spending an hour creating content. It’s important to do things with the most ROI in ministry.”
1. Equip parents for ministry at home
Home ministry is the foundation of your family ministry. Use tools like Orange’s parent cue, online resources, and Playlister at-home to give them the tools they need to connect with their kids. The other half of family ministry is marriage and parent ministry. You can’t expect parents to minister at home if things like an unhappy marriage or lack of parenting skills stand in the way.
“You never run into someone that says ‘I don’t want a better marriage or I don’t want to be a better parent.’ These are important areas for the Church to lean on.”
Here are some family ministry resources Rob recommends:
- Parent Cue
- Homeword.com
2. Use video calls
Things like Zoom calls and webinars allow you to reach more people, and give your team flexible ways to communicate.
“We do a zoom training call with all our staff and volunteers centrally. It is a great way to onboard everyone as new volunteers or returning volunteers get ready to participate in in-person services.”
3. Become aligned on Roles & Resources
Prairie Lakes currently has six campuses and will be opening their 7th in 2021. Rob discusses the importance of having a solid foundation before scaling ministry. Here are three ways to ensure successful alignment across your entire organization:
4. Clarify everyone’s role
Everyone needs to know exactly what is expected of them and who they report to.
5. Use the same curriculum and content
You’ll save money, time, and effort by using the same content everywhere.
6. Use the same technology
Just like using the same content, having a consistent tech stack saves you time and money. Plus your IT team will thank you for making troubleshooting easier :-)