{"id":312,"date":"2007-06-10T21:02:16","date_gmt":"2007-06-11T01:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/312"},"modified":"2007-06-11T15:26:10","modified_gmt":"2007-06-11T19:26:10","slug":"a-suggestion-for-effective-enlistment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/archives\/312","title":{"rendered":"A Suggestion for Effective Enlistment"},"content":{"rendered":"

In discussions about church enlistment we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve often heard the statement, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we enlist our own problems!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d How many nominating committee processes have you experienced that were exercises in filling slots without giving intentional consideration to the passions and gifts of leaders and the functions required for the positions of service? <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I mention these two\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe gifts and passions of persons and the functions required because both of these are very important. That being said, however, I think we make a mistake when we seek to fill leadership positions in the church based solely on one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gifts and passions. <\/p>\n

I would like to suggest that of these two criteria, the required function needed of the leader of a team is the more important consideration. Let me give an example.<\/p>\n

For this illustration, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suppose that we have a need for a chairperson for an outreach committee or team. We want to be intentional in this decision making process because we know the end result will determine the effectiveness of this ministry team. So, we begin to look for persons who are gifted for or passionate about this area of ministry using a process similar to the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Jot down a list of all the persons who have gifts related to outreach (hospitality, mercy, evangelism, etc.)<\/li>\n
  2. Prioritize our candidate call list.<\/li>\n
  3. Contact the candidates until we find one who is willing to take the position (If one says \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we move to the next)<\/li>\n
  4. Fill in the blank and move on to the next enlistment need.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But, hold on! Haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we missed a major issue for consideration? Are we just interested in persons who are gifted and passionate for this position? Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t we need someone who can carry out the FUNCTION that is required of this position? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m making. <\/p>\n

    In this case, we need someone who can effectively work with a group to carry out the functions needed to ensure the success of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u201dplanning an agenda, running a meeting, engaging team members in aspects of team work, holding team members accountable, prioritizing and calendaring events, coordinating with other church groups, communicating and promoting, and leading the group in evaluation\u00e2\u20ac\u201dall functions that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily have any relationship to a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abilities in outreach! Sure, the leader needs to believe that outreach is important, and some persons who have a gift and passion for outreach also have an administrative or leadership gift. Finding that combination is hitting the jackpot. But given the rarity that all leaders have the perfect gift and skill set, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m convinced that an intentional focus on the functional needs that are required of the leadership positions in the church will provide more effective leadership and ministry. Think process. Think group dynamics. Think FUNCTION! Perhaps this is an subject for training that you should consider for your church.<\/p>\n

    martybannernew.jpg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In discussions about church enlistment we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve often heard the statement, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we enlist our own problems!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d How many nominating committee processes have you experienced that were exercises in filling slots without giving intentional consideration to the passions and gifts of leaders … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-education","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/grace-ed.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}