The Importance of Systems to Engage Members in Ministry
Most churches struggle with successfully engaging members in ministry. The reason is they don’t really have a plan as to how they connect people. They just hope it will naturally happen, which often leads people right out the back door of the church. Engaged people are relationally connected people. They show up because they have personal relationships with other members in your congregation, have established trust and someone has personally assisted them in taking next steps to connect.
What is your system or process by which you invite people to participate?
A system…
Saves
You
Stress
Time
Energy
Money
The photo above is an example of a system created to fill egg cartons with different colored eggs filled with items to tell the Resurrection story. (The people assembled were part of a canvas witnessing group and this was an additional project we brought along to give away to families at a Palm Sunday outreach event.) Think about all the steps that went into creating the Resurrection Egg kit. There were so many steps! But imagine what would happen if those steps were documented and followed again? It would be so much simpler! The same is true of your member ministry process.
Congregational leaders can seldom articulate how they engage members in serving or in small groups. No system or process = little or no long term results. In other words, you get out what you put into it.
As an expert in creating the member ministry system, I’m excited to share with you the list of congregations participating in an 18 month consulting plan with Faith Unleashed this fall.
- Divine Peace – Rockwall, Texas
- Foundation Lutheran – Peyton, Colorado
- Bethlehem – Menomonee Falls and Germantown Wisconsin
- Good Shepherd – West Bend, Wisconsin
- St. Luke’s – Watertown, Wisconsin
These congregations have hired Personal Member Ministry Coordinators to create customized systems within their congregation to engage, equip and empower members to live out their faith actively inside and outside the walls of their congregation.
These congregations range in sizes from mission congregations with less than 100 people to over 1800 members on multiple sites! One thing they all have in common is the need to engage more people in ministry.
The coordinators will spend 12 weeks in a deep-dive educational training process with me. Their pastors and any additional staff, that desires to do so, will also participate in a 15-hour workshop called “Multiply Member Ministry.” My goal: looking to get the entire staff and leadership “rowing in the same direction” when it comes to inviting members to participate in ministry.
So how did these churches get to this point? Many of them had leaders or pastors who participated in my free online webinar, Creating a Member Ministry System in Your Congregation.
A couple of the congregations had someone from their leadership team participate in Multiply Member Ministry – our 15-hour online course.
Faith Unleashed is designed to serve the individual needs of congregations no matter their size. I am looking forward to a great fall season of unleashing more people to make their unique kingdom impact. My goal is to get the right person, serving in the right place at the right time and for the right reason. Can you imagine what your church could look like with everyone participating? Think about what God could accomplish through you and your church family!