Breaking Ministry Down

Some things never change. Fifty years ago, the job of kidmin was to lead kids to know Jesus. That is true of our job today and will be true of our job in another 50 years.

Comparing other aspects of kidmin from today to yesteryear is very interesting (sometimes even funny). Just about everything has changed. EVERYTHING!

The “job” of leading kids to know Jesus has grown in immeasurable ways in the last decade alone. Things such as:

• growing complexity of programming and events
• increased safety & security protocols
• expanding ministries and churches

The “job” has become significantly more complex. Where someone once did (or tried to do) everything, now it’s nearly impossible. Teams of staff and volunteers are required to fulfill this important task of leading kids to Jesus.

Check-In Volunteers * Lead Teachers * Audio/Visual Volunteers * Worship Volunteers * Hosts and Story Tellers * Emergency Team Volunteers * Volunteer Hospitality Volunteers * Logistics/Technology Volunteers * Coaches * Curriculum Volunteers * Supply Coordinator Volunteers * Shopping/Supply Volunteers * and many more.

We could easily develop a list of dozens and dozens of individual volunteer positions to “lead kids to know Jesus.” We can’t do this by ourselves anymore. When we do, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. True success in Kidmin is more about delegation now than it it has ever been.

More specialized volunteer roles create more opportunities for people to serve according to their gifts and talents. Delegating in this way doesn’t just lighten our load, it creates ownership. Everybody wins when volunteers move from “renters” to “owners” in the ministry. Another win of effective delegation is that we as ministry leaders also become more specialized rather than the traditional “jack of all trades.”

So here’s a question for you:

As as the leader, director or even pastor of the ministry, how can we

• equip people in such a way that it empowers them?
• ensure high quality leadership, ministry and programs?
• allow God to use the gifts and talents HE gave them in the first place?

The answer: CHECKLISTS!

Simple checklists for specific roles give us the benefit of building on the expertise of those who came before us while also creating the space necessary to be used by God within the boundaries of the essentials of each role.

Take my most current staffing change for example! My Baby Ministry Team Leader of the last 4 years recently resigned. She has been instrumental in taking the ministry to the next level, both relationally with leaders and parents and also with the quality of the care and discipleship of our youngest attenders. She has far surpassed my expectations and I will greatly miss her leadership on our team. I haven’t panicked though. Why? Because I have a checklist.

I asked her to create a checklist of responsibilities; a weekly, monthly, and yearly checklist of the things that were her “big rocks,” and primary responsibilities.

When we find our next Team Leader, I will be able to hand her Kimi’s checklist, cast vision into the calling of this specific role and then encourage them to allow God to use them to not only get the “job” done but to take the ministry to the next level. They’ll be able to build on the excellence and experience that the person before them brought to the table.

What if I did the same for every roll on my team, both staff and volunteer?

My goal in 2017: checklists for every ministry role that will equips and empower those in the role today, and those that will inevitably come behind us, to take what we do today to the next level, reaching even more for Christ.