Your Job...

Your job means different things for different people, and while there are many interpretations of the same thing, a job description is meant to help focus a minister for the betterment of the church. The same is true for department heads and committee chairmen they need only look at the vision statement for their ministries. If you don’t have a vision statement for your ministries, now is the time to write one.

A great many people seem to think that the job description is more about control than direction. Though some situations may prove that statement to be true, the elements of a good job description will help to assess, and produce ministry opportunities for your church. Your job description is the very thing that your church created to make you ready for your job. To neglect such a document is the same as telling your church that their desires don’t matter and that you are a better judge of ministry than they. The validity of that argument is not the issue, the call on your life that was placed by your new church and the Holy Spirit provoked your move to your current situation. Therefore, the validity of the document and expectations from your current church are valid points for the ministry you hope to do in partnership with this church. Until you and your church adopt a new description of duties your interdependence rests on the assimilation of your current job description in your everyday life.

My suggestion is that you would acquire a job description from your trusty secretary and laminate it. In the event that you don’t have a secretary, get your fingers dirty by opening the files in that back closet…you know the one. At the onset of your day, you should put it in front of you and begin to pray about the items that you see. Pray that the Lord grant you the ability and forethought to assimilate the items you see throughout the day. Remember, this exercise is not meant to validate the authority of the job description, but is intended to validate the relationship you have with your church through the services you provide. When the church sees you working to accomplish the items they value most, they will see the heart that brought you to this job in the first place.

Supporting your church in every possible way also means that you will create peace when whenever possible. Peace can come, at least in part, due to a humble attitude of service from the staff; and humble service is the seed that bears leadership.

The In-Between Times

A threat to the cohesion of the programs of a church during the absence of a pastor is the refocusing on Sundays and Wednesdays (or whatever days are your primary days of meeting). Though this is not a big deal for your congregation in the short run, it can create some negative habits in the long run. Members relegate their membership, participation, and personal ministry to the confines of those two days when they have done so for so long. We on the other hand, must use this shift in participation to shed some light on the ministries that can go on without a pastor.

When there is no noise, the smallest of sounds is clear to hear. When light doesn’t exist in a place, the smallest match can illuminate a room. The same is true about the absence of ministry. When a church remains idle for a period of time, any ministry that is visible in that dark place will shine bright and can help to reinvigorate your people for ministry on their own.

Keep in mind that this is not a ploy to get attention to refocus itself on you, nor is it a way to edge yourself closer to the pastor’s chair (each will be discussed later in this blog). This is a way to show the power of ministry. If we as leaders in the church shed light on ministry in the dark times, our church will become better able to see ministry in its true form. When we take youth to clean an elderly persons yard in the fall, or take our church choir to the nursing home, or we take our children’s ministry to the local children’s hospital for visitation, or we set up a car winterization program with our deacons, and we do these projects NOT ON SUNDAY, we illuminate their value to our group.

Not only are the events themselves more apparent by not being shoved into the Sunday Mix, but our people, being that they have to adjust their lives to participate, will better understand what an impact ministry can have on the people they serve as well as the people serving.

One event, done on a Tuesday evening…give it a shot and see how your group changes. See how their hearts become open, simply by opening their schedule.

Workers Need Love Too

Not only should we be observant of each person in our ministry, but we must also be aware of each person that helps us create these ministries, as well as maintain them year to year. We as ministers must be willing to be ministers to each person on each committee that is associated with our goals. Deacons, teachers, workers, and other staff members are all integral parts of whatever ministry we serve. Also, each of these individuals are in relationships with family and friends just like our ministry groups are. Therefore, we must be aware of each of their family maps as well.

This seems to be a mathematical and cold way to introduce yourself to the people to whom you intend to minister, and at first it may be. But when you lay each of these family maps on the floor in your office and they begin to crowd your space, you will begin to see just how big your job is. Each family on your list will be a part of ministry for you over the next few years, and you will need to know them if you want to help them.

When you step back and see just how big and broad your goals of ministry are, now that you have seen all these people you intend to serve, you will begin to see that expanding past ministry and into the realm of program. Ministry will be the only thing that propels the church during a time without a pastor.