At a time when our ministry could being slowing up a bit in anticipation of a new child in October things are going faster than ever. Seeds were planted months ago that are now coming to fruition and ministry is being multiplied as leadership roles are being assigned, things are being delegated, and our 20 and 30 somethings are taking the lead. It is hard to believe this is actually happening. It is also hard to believe just how bad our 20 and 30s want to take the lead. They want responsibility. They want to take action. They have never been “given permission” until now. The old model of show up and receive just won’t work any more.
We have a new fire in our group and a new intensity. People are actively seeking out new people, constantly handing me new contact information, planning activities, and coordinating with each other to make things happen that will impact our community, our church, and our class. What was the shift? The shift was a group decision that we were no longer satisfied with the old show up and listen model of doing Bible class. We decided that we have a mission and a responsibility. I decided that I couldn’t get done everything that needed to happen and began delegating responsibilities to group members. We met, assigned specific “job descriptions” to a dozen people or so and continue to do follow up to make sure things are on track. My role has transitioned from taking care of all the nuts and bolts to an administration role and let me tell you – This works!
We had our first monthly devotional under our new model. Our devo coordinators planned it, help advertise it, and really invested themselves in it. The old model had me doing everything and people just showed up. You would think that would be more appealing but it isn’t. People want to take a part in what is going on. Our service coordinators had announcements for upcoming service projects and reports on the success of our previous efforts. Our prayer team is praying for our events, our people, and for our community. People are getting plugged in. I used to be the one seeking out the new people on Sunday morning but this last Sunday I had half of our leadership team hand me contact info of people they met on Sunday that needed added to our list. Momentum is building and something really good is underway.
Don’t be afraid to expect more of people and to let them know you believe in them. For more on the initial plan see this post.
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That’s really exciting.
who’s ministering to the 40’s?
That would be me. The reason I have 20s and 30 lumped is that when a 20 year old non-Christian college students come to class with people who are in their 40s and up they don’t always feel like they fit as that is such a wide range of stages of life.