The Parish Paper - January 2016: How Ministry Teams Get Things Done

The pastor charged with recruiting teachers for the congregation’s Sunday school classes expressed her frustration: “Every year it gets harder and I don’t see that changing! I’ve tried every strategy and reached out to new people over and over again. At least I know one thing—what I’m doing isn’t working.” But one thing this leader and many others have not yet tried is a ministry team approach.

The biggest myth about mobilizing teams is that they can be created by gathering a few people together and naming them a team.1 Leaders often wonder: Can a church add ministry teams without revising their present structure or bylaws? Yes! Churches that transition to a team-driven methodology add teams while reducing the number and size of their traditional committees. Although the church neither renames nor disbands all of its committees, those groups may meet less frequently.