People don’t want pity, and they don’t want you to tolerate them. People are living and breathing creatures. Ministry involves every part of the people we minister to; it also requires all of us as well. Good, Bad, and Ugly, we must realize that the totality of ourselves is what will make an impact on our people. When we have no pastor, there will be pain and there will be discord. No improvement will be seen by disguising your emotions from the people for which you labor.
I have heard of pastors who fail miserably at this very task. To be real, open, and honest is one of the most endearing qualities that a minister can possess. Some pastors and staff members who insist that everything is good when it is not fail to understand that their dishonesty will breed dishonesty in their congregation. When no pastor is to be found, our honesty with people can begin to direct our congregation to be honest to each other, and to themselves. It is only through honesty that they will grow in this time of unrest; honesty for what they want, and honesty for what the LORD wants of them.
Acting as though things are good when they are not, isn’t better or worse than over playing the circumstances to make them worse than they really are. Understand your condition, and understand the condition that you would have things to be. Be precise and honest with your own emotions and allow your people to see them. Be ready at all times to express how things in your church are getting better as an encouragement for your people. When your church becomes honest in their expressions of emotions they will be ready to express to Him their emotions and lay them down at His feet.
Honesty bears understanding, but dishonesty from the staff in the office will breed dishonesty from the pulpit.
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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.
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.
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