Jim Collins says: get the right people on the bus and those people in the right seats on the bus. That is imperative in business but what about in the volunteer ministry positions in a church.
It is even more important.
There always seems to be a place where people are needed in the church organization. There always seems to be some minister or ministry leader placing an advertisement for a person to fill a 'hole.' Too many times that becomes exactly what happens. We fill the 'hole' but with the person who cares about the organization and not necessarily with the person who is passionate about the specific ministry, has the skill to carry out the ministry or even feels called to help. Often they just don't know how to say 'no.'
The wrong reasons people say yes:
- guilt…
- don't want the ministry to suffer
- persuasion of the recruiter
The results of saying yes for the wrong reasons:
- will not stay long in the ministry
- becomes frustrated because they don't have the skills
- the ministry suffers because the person's passion and skills are not aligned
- because of a bad experience in the wrong ministry place, hesitates to say yes to the right placement
How do we get the right people in the right place of ministry?
Clearly define the ministry position including expectations and time commitments
Give the person permission to say 'no'
We have clearly defined each ministry position by creating a 'job description' for every place a volunteer is needed. In that ministry position job description we have outlined:
- ministry area
- ministry position
- ministry type
- core responsibility
- qualifications
- responsibilities
- expectations
- time requirements
When we approach someone about filling a ministry position we can use the written job description to guide our conversation. If we are clear about the responsibilities, qualifications, expectations and time requirements, we have found we get a person knowing exactly what they are saying yes to. When an informed person says 'yes' we get someone who:
- enjoys the ministry placement
- serves for a long period of time
- is successful and helps multiply other leaders
We believe
- that God gifts people for ministry
- that every believer should be active in some type of ministry
- and that every believer only has to say 'yes' to one ministry
As Jim Collins says: get the right people on the bus, and the right people in the correct seats because it is much easier than getting the wrong people out of the seats and off the bus.
Have you taken the time to create job descriptions for all your volunteer ministry positions?
Here is an example of one of the ministry job descriptions that we have created.
