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Carrying your ministry team through conflict
By Mike Weaver T
he congregation faced a difficult chal- lenge: how to melt the iciness between coun- cil members that had developed over the year. A divide between the pastors had begun to affect the council. The congregation’s lead pastor saw that internal squabbles were diminishing the church’s ministry and scheduled a retreat for the leadership. The goal was to warm up the relationships and begin moving forward as a unified team of ministers for the gospel. As Henry Ford once said, “If everyone is moving for- ward together, then success takes care of itself.” A congregation’s ministry and mission suffer as long as relationship problems persist among staff and council members. It’s not unlike an athlete suffering a concussion. A concussion damages the brain to such a degree that clar- ity of thought and memory diminishes, leaving the injured player at risk of further injury and possibly even death. Once the brain is healed, the athlete can enter into activity again. Until then, attention must be given to ensuring that the brain recovers from injury. Your congregation’s leadership teams (pastors, staff,
Weaver, pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church, Worthington, Ohio, per- forms regularly with Easily Amused improv. He is the author of Your Life ... Improvised: 7 Improv Secrets to Help You Be Happy, Live Freely, and Connect with God and Others Naturally (Blurb Books, 2012).
council and other groups that oversee specific ministries) act like the brain. If any of these teams suffer from relationship damage—internal conflict, power struggles, miscommu- nication, division, etc.—the entire ministry will suffer. The Trinity, as mysteri- ous as it is, remains the per- fect example of highly effec- tive team ministry. Father, Son and Spirit (or Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier) exist to serve one another and humanity. We are recipi- ents of the Trinity’s ability to work together on a cause outside itself. Consider just some of the Trinity’s accomplishments: • Created the world. • Freed people from slavery in Egypt. • Led a people to the promised land. • Raised Lazarus from the dead.
PHOTODISC • Established and maintained the
church over the course of nearly 2,000 years. Nothing worthwhile and long-lasting was ever created by one lone person. The myth of the self-made individual is simply that: a myth. In reality, we need each other, especially in the church, to accomplish what God wants done in the world. We may not be called to lead people into the promised land, but we may be called to serve the neighborhood around us as Christ’s ambassadors working together.
When you’re tempted to throw your hands up in frus- tration and say, “I’ll just do this myself,” pause to recon- sider. The results will be richer and larger when you work through the difficulties you’re having with others on your team.
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi: “Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:2-4). Each ministry team should memorize these verses, as they provide the blueprint for effective team ministry
16 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
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