organization-alignment

Yesterday I posted about something Andy Stanley said in the first paragraph of the forward of Think Orange. Click here to read it.

Essentially, I wrote about North Point being so successful in their efforts to reach families. One of the driving forces behind their success was that most of the key leadership and staff had skin in the game. It was so important to be successful in this area becasue their kids and families were at stake too. It sounds selfish, but it’s the truth. We always show more interest in the things that are going to affect us most.

So, what if the average age of the senior leadership at your church is in their mid to late 50’s? You’re passionate about children’s ministry, but the senior leadership really has not “personal” investment in your ministry (other than the fact that most healthy churches have strong ministries to kids). What do you do? How do you convince your leadership that your area has great needs that they don’t see?

There’s probably a hundred ways to answer this question, but I’ll answer it the way I’d approach it. Actually, I’ll answer it the way I’m dealing with this right now. Gateway is not a “family” church. We do have families and they are very important here, but Gateway is not laser focused on families. Half of the church is single and the church is very missional toward reaching the post-modern crowd, and many of that crowd are not parents yet. There are a few on the senior leadership of Gateway that have young kids, but it’s certainly not a majority. So what is the vision and leadership laser focused on? Serving the community and spiritual multiplication is though. So the way I’m leading (especially this year) is to minister to kid and families with excellence, but putting a lot of effort into serving our community through our ministry and creating an environment where NexGen is a hotbed for spiritual multiplication for both kids and adults. If I do that well, I’m serving my church well and I’ll get what I need to be successful. My senior leadership will fuel what’s working.

So, figure out what the senior leadership is most passionate about at your church and see if you can find common ground to fulfill that passion through your ministry. If you can’t find common ground, you’ll never be successful where you’re at and it’s doubtful your ministry will ever be remarkable. That’s basic leadership. Serve the vision of your leadership and you’ll be successful. If it’s not a fit, you’d be better off somewhere else where you can serve the vision of the leadership.