All too
often in our local churches when we are putting together agendas, looking to
push into new frontiers, recruiting volunteers or putting together annual
budgets, we tend to compete with each other. Regardless of how successful
or financially blessed your church may be, there are still more needs and more
great ideas than resources. God may have unlimited resources but the local
church does not.
Some of
the best churches have found ways to replace this competition for resources
with collaboration, and it’s a huge improvement in planning as well as in
execution.
When one
ministry competes with another ministry or department at a church for volunteers,
dollars or space, the leaders are at best looking to come out on the top of a
“win-lose” outcome. Some ministry wins and the others lose.
On the
other hand, collaboration between and among our ministries and departments
strives to find the “win-win” outcome.
Opportunities
rather than problems …
One of the
best ways to collaborate and look for win-win outcomes in programing and
recruiting and sharing resources is to communicate. The words we use may also
be problematic in communicating well. For example, as a ministry leader and
pastor I make sure that when we address issues, we typically don’t want to
communicate that we have “problems,” but instead we have “opportunities.” This
is not just a substitution of words but also a substitution of viewpoints.
Even if
the local church has the resources, facilities or the space to do multiple
things well, it’s unlikely the intended audience or participant can be in two
places at the same time. Most successful churches intentionally limit the
amount of opportunities that the congregation is exposed to in order to allow
them to be able to choose wisely and be focused on those that are the best
experiences.
Where
there is no clarity, people perish …
One of
the best things that senior leaders can do in the church is to bring clarity to
the implementation of the vision that God has given them regarding the local
church. If I were paraphrasing Proverbs 29:18, I’d likely state it this way,
“Where there is no clarity, people perish.” Often, the senior or lead pastor
will be able to clarify that there are great opportunities for the entire
church to be involved for a season in a particular endeavor. That may be a call
for people to get involved in small groups or the church may decide that it is
calling everyone to a fast. Other times, it may be a time for people to choose
their area of interest and let people literally vote with their participation.
If the ministry leaders understand and bring clarity on where and how God is
leading, collaboration flows naturally and everyone wins.
Milestones
are reasons to celebrate …
For years
I’ve heard churches say they want to celebrate more, but so often they actually
celebrate less. While we are on a journey we rarely believe we have time to
celebrate. However, God gave Moses very clear instruction on making sure that
all of Israel would pause from time to time to celebrate. Israel was told to
celebrate the Feast of the Passover; the people were told to celebrate the
building of the Temple. Nehemiah told the people to celebrate the dedication of
the wall of Jerusalem. These were milestones that would only be passed
once but could be celebrated often.
In the
same way, churches should be celebrating that which God values. When we
celebrate lives being dedicated to Christ, people being baptized, successful
building or mission projects, we draw everyone’s attention to particular
milestones. Celebrating the wins and achievements automatically help
prioritize all of our future plans and opportunities.
When we
collaborate, the Church wins.
Reprint
from Church
Executive Magazine, July 30, 2012
