People Mapping

Ministry is about people. I’ll say it again, MINISTRY IS ABOUT PEOPLE!!!

Programs cannot be the focus of a pastorless church. Programs are ways to grow already growing people. Programs will do nothing for people who either don’t care or don’t know about your church and where it is going. We must refocus ourselves on the people we serve and NOT the job we do.

I hear some of you saying to your computer, “But how do I know what people to focus on?” And the answer to that question is simple. You need to be ready to affect every person that is in your group as well as anyone who is within one or two degrees of separation from your group.

For instance, I am a youth minister. Therefore, I am responsible for every youth aged individual in our church, as well as each immediate family member and every second degree family member.

Let’s break this down. Cole is one of my youth. Cole has a sister, a mother, and a father. He also has two sets of grandparents, three sets of aunts and uncles, and five cousins that live in the area. For me to minister to Cole, I must minister to each individual that makes up his family. To properly minister to the one, I mister to all nineteen.

This seems like a big job, but frankly it is the only job that must be done. We must begin to develop a map of every individual and family in our ministry, including those individuals within our ministry whose family does not yet attend our church.

Sit down and make the map…now take a look at how many people are in your ministry. For a youth group of 10, you could have a map of over 200 people; if it’s a group of 50 your map could include well over 1000 people.

Now that you are properly frazzled, I want you to understand that there is no way for you to get deep into the lives of every person on that map, but it is impossible for you to impact your student without knowing about the relationships that affect him or her most greatly. These people on the map are the ones that will be with your student for the greatest portion of their lives. Help your students make sense of these relationships, and give them the ability to make sense of each one that comes after.

The same model is true if you are a part of Deacon Family Ministries, Church Choir Director, Sunday School Teachers, or the Janitorial Staff. Every person who works with the church is a minister, and in ministry, we must begin to understand the people to whom we serve.