I was new to the church and so was my position. For the first time in its 14-year history, this 3,000-member congregation had called someone to concentrate on adult programing.
At first, it seemed that they needed not a minister but a “fairy godmother.”
During the interview process, I discovered there was no consensus on my responsibilities. The senior pastor wanted me to develop small groups. The personnel committee and church administrator wanted me to guide adult education and to strengthen existing ministries while also developing new programs. The congregation was looking for someone, anyone, to develop ministries they felt had been neglected.
As I began to meet the members, one-by-one they would say, “You know what we really need around here is ______,” filling the blank with a new ministry. They wanted ministries to couples and parents, men and women, support groups, leisure activities, you name it. Everyone had his own idea of what the church needed most, but few offered to help. Even with a magic wand, I could not implement all that.
Knowing I couldn’t do it all, I labeled a file folder “wish list.” Each time someone advocated a new ministry, I filed the person’s name, the date, and the idea. Tracking their interests helped me.
Over the next six months, I noticed a pattern. Several women independently expressed the same desire: a day designed to minister to women. One persistent lady pushed me. “Kenna, what’s it going to take to get this off the ground?”
“We need a chairperson,” I replied. “Will you promise to pray about this need?” She paused. I thought that would end the discussion. I was wrong.
Two weeks later she called me back. “I feel so strongly about this,” she said, “that I’ll chair the event!”
“Great!” I said, looking into my folder. “I have a list of six ladies we can pull together for a task force to explore the idea further.”
That was in September. By January we were hosting our first women’s conference for 350. Five years later we had more than 800 attenders and 200 volunteers!
What’s God saying to them?
For years I’ve attended seminars on mobilizing the laity to do ministry. What I’ve found is that we professionals rarely put theory into practice. We recruit lay people to maintain our ministries rather than waiting on God to birth his ideas into his people.
As leaders we are to prepare and equip God’s people for the works of service that God has planned, according to Ephesians 2:10 and 4:11-12. Preparing happens in many ways:
Talk about their wish lists
I engage people in discussions about their ideas. By moderating brainstorming sessions, I help them think creatively and find common ground for nurturing similar ideas.
As a leader, I think of myself as a matchmaker. Helping people connect with one another is particularly important in congregations with multiple worship services where people don’t know one another.
Frequent, casual, one-on-one conversations are also great opportunities to establish expectations for lay-initiated ministry. I administer small doses over a long period of time!
Talk about needs, not programs
When asking for help from laity, it’s better to discuss ministry needs than the merits of programs. For instance, I ask people to assist a short-term task force to “find ways to minister to the needs of young parents.” I don’t ask them to start a specific program. This leaves room for many ministries to spring forth from one need. It also says that, as a minister, I value their input and really consider them part of the team.
Equipping, on the other hand, comes primarily through preaching and teaching.
Teach the church
Periodic preaching on the church as the body of Christ is vital for grounding lay ministry in Scripture. We regularly instruct the congregation on the biblical design for ministry: staff are to be equippers and the members to be workers.
Our church also has two courses that teach the importance of lay ministry. One is the new members class. The other is a study of spiritual gifts and gift-based ministry. I’ve found that people often want to be involved in ministry, but they’re intimidated because they don’t think they’re qualified. When members discover their spiritual gifts, they find they have something to contribute.
Teach the staff
One of our secretaries told me she thought I was “a good delegater.” I think she meant lazy. After she took these classes, she realized I was being intentional about involving laity because of what the Bible said. Both sides, staff and laity, need to understand their roles.
These patterns of preaching and teaching must be perpetual. A church can’t have a seasonal emphasis on lay ministry and expect to develop a thriving base. Leaders must create a constant climate where lay ministry is cultivated and celebrated.
Make the matches
Sometimes new ministries are slow to start because the people who would be passionate about them are mismatched to a maintenance ministry. That’s why it’s important to give people permission to say no. Freed from a ministry misfit, they will be more likely to develop the ministries for which they are truly gifted.
Yes, it usually takes longer for lay-initiated ministries to develop, but they are more effective and easier to perpetuate.
Learning to wait
If I had walked into this church and said, “I think we need to start a women’s conference,” we would have had the same 30 ladies who attend everything else show up on a Saturday morning for coffee, donuts, and a devotional talk. I don’t discount such groups, but it does show the contrast between a “me-size” idea in my time and a “God-size” idea in his time!
Not every new idea will come to fruition as quickly as our women’s conference. Our church tried for several years to start a support group for people caring for their aged parents. A few people showed up, but the efforts fizzled out.
We were puzzled because we knew many members could benefit from such a group. We either had the wrong leader, the wrong agenda, or the wrong time.
Sometimes we have a God idea, but we haven’t waited on God’s timing. We need to help people realize that a present failure may simply mean wait.
Several months ago the caregivers support group finally took off. What made the difference? God called together the right people for the right purpose in the right season.
The ministry of the wish list isn’t magic, but it is mystical. The mystery is how wonderfully God works through his church when the people are willing to work and the ministers are willing to wait.
—Kenna Sapp is minister of adult discipleship at Christ United Methodist Church 6101 Grelot Road Mobile AL 36609
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