Commit to creating a healthy culture for your team that supports, encourages, and propels the mission forward.
By Matt Morgan
Pastor, you are called to lovingly lead and care for those God has entrusted to you. This includes the other pastors and staff who serve alongside you.
A younger pastor recently asked me, “What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in 20 years of ministry?” My mind flooded with advice I wanted to give about all areas of ministry, but he asked for the biggest lesson. So, I thought for a moment and said, “The mission of the church is too important and too big to go it alone.”
Every pastor needs a team. They need co-laborers who are just as equipped and excited to do the work God has called them to do. Whether they are lay leaders, part-time employees, or full-time employees, your staff team is God’s gift to help you fulfill the mission of making disciples.
“The mission of the church is too important and too big to go it alone.” — @Pastor_MattMo Share on XLike any gift, these people need to be stewarded well. They need to be led in a way that reflects their value as individuals and their strength as a team. As a pastor, it is your responsibility to invest in your staff to help them be all God has gifted and called them to be. Here are four habits you can use to develop a healthier staff team.
1. Define the culture
Culture is made up of a shared set of values, beliefs, and practices. Every staff team needs to have a shared set of values and expectations. They need something that defines the attitudes and behaviors that are expected of the team and a way of committing to living those values out.
In 2016, our church staff participated in an assessment to determine overall team health, and the results were less than impressive. The assessment results used the word “toxic” to describe our staff team.
Knowing the importance of our mission, the leadership team worked hard to restore relationships and nurse a toxic team back to health. A big step in the process was creating what we call our Staff DNA.
Our Staff DNA defines the culture we want to maintain on our staff teams. These six statements define who we are and how we interact with one another. This is our Staff DNA:
- We assume the best.
- We give grace generously.
- We are better together.
- We never lead with can’t.
- We know each other before we lead each other.
- We believe the mission matters.
Our leadership team takes time in staff meetings to show how each statement has a deeper explanation and application. Every month, we celebrate and reward a team member who is living out the Staff DNA. We created interview questions based on our Staff DNA to help candidates know who we are and to help us know a new hire will commit to living out our values.
These are more than just pithy slogans or aspirational sayings. These statements define the culture we’ve created and want to hold for our staff team. Take time to define the culture you want to create for your team. If you don’t define it, someone or something else will.
2. Share stories
A healthy team takes time to celebrate the ways God is working in and through their ministries. The beautiful part of ministry is that the gospel is always working, so there are always stories to share. It might not always be a story of dramatic transformation, but there are always small movements worth sharing.
Every Monday at 3:00 p.m., our worship pastors, teaching pastors, and a handful of other staff gather to share stories of what happened the previous Sunday on our campuses. It’s a weekly highlight as I get to hear about gospel conversations, responses to the sermon, prayer moments, and guest interactions my teammates had that weekend.
There are often too many stories to share in this 30-minute meeting, so we look for other times and ways to continue sharing. On our campus, we dedicate a portion of our weekly staff meeting to this question: What did God do this weekend that we need to celebrate? It’s so great to hear stories and be reminded that God is always moving and working.
Sharing stories also helps break down the silos of ministry. It’s hard to be jealous or upset with another ministry when you’re constantly hearing all God is doing in that area. You realize the stories are highlights of God’s greatness and not our own, which gives us the freedom to celebrate with one another.
I encourage you to create a shared folder or text thread where you can share the stories of life change, stories of ministry wins, or stories that remind us to pray with and for one another. Whether it’s on a weekly or monthly basis, it’s a great team-building activity to share the stories of life change happening in your church.
3. Have fun together
David Ogilvy, a British advertising tycoon, once said, “Where people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good work.” This might be an overstatement, but the research bears out that happy employees tend to be healthier, more inspired, productive, and satisfied in their jobs. On average, happy people are 31% more productive.
As ministry leaders, we do the work we do because we are called to it, and we need no other motivation for productivity other than the Great Commission. But it’s OK to admit that having fun helps!
A few weeks ago, our staff team scheduled an entire day for budget and calendar planning. It was a six-hour marathon of thinking, talking, and writing. It could’ve been easy for the day to end on a sour note of exhaustion. Instead, we spent the last two hours of the workday laughing, fellowshiping, and playing together at Top Golf. We were all reminded that we really do like each other and enjoy doing ministry together.
Having fun together helps to improve communication, build trust, and remind every team member they are loved and valued. Host a game night, go to lunch, or take a day to go to the park. It might seem like wasted time, but having fun together might be what keeps your team together for the long haul.
“Having fun together helps to improve communication, build trust, and remind every team member they are loved and valued.” — @Pastor_MattMo Share on X4. Worship and pray together
Sundays and Wednesdays are spent with your team going in different directions and handling different responsibilities. Some members of your team may not get a regular time of worship on Sundays due to their role. A time of worship and prayer as a team can be life-giving for them and the entire team.
Here are a few pointers for creating a time of worship and prayer for your team:
- Make it regular. It can be hard to come out of a tense meeting and jump into unexpected, spontaneous worship. Planning for a time of worship and prayer on a regular schedule helps people know what to expect and allows them to prepare their hearts.
- Make it simple. There is no need to overcomplicate this time of worship and prayer. Plan to sing a song or two, share a short devotional or have a team member share what God is teaching them, and leave plenty of time to pray for one another.
- Make it intentional. It may take some time for everyone to feel comfortable, but intentionally discuss what God is doing in your lives, share how you can pray for one another, and pray or write cards for those in your church who need to be encouraged.
Our mission is too important and too big to go it alone. We need one another. So do what you need to do to be a healthy leader, and commit to creating a culture for your team that supports, encourages, and propels the mission forward.
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
