Windows on teamworkHow can congregational leaders work as a team? Whether it’s a group of paid staff, pastors teaming with lay leaders, or volunteers focused on a common task, collaboration is crucial for people who want their congregations to do God’s work in the world. What makes for effective team ministry is the question this issue of Leader tries to answer. To start reflection on this, we offer stories of three congregations that have developed very different patterns of team ministry. While they all happen to be urban and medium to large in size, and none of them would be called “typical,” these congregations nevertheless tell us something about the variety of ways in which team ministry can happen. Try using these stories as a study resource in your leadership team, however it is configured. Following the stories is a reflection article on the models, with questions to stimulate your thinking. Then, don’t miss the other articles on ways teams can be strengthened in your congregation. |
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Fort Garry
a lay ministry model
by Brenda Suderman
When Henry Loewen was commissioned as a lay minister in Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship, his father had a pointed question for him. “‘Who commissioned you?’” Loewen recalls his father asking from his perspective as a long-time deacon serving under a bishop in a rural church. “I knew what he was asking, and the only answer was: ‘The church did, the people did.’”
For four decades, the people of this Winnipeg congregation have been calling each other into ministry. Established in 1966, the church decided early on not to hire paid staff. Inspired by Ephesians 4 and other Scriptures, and encouraged by conference leader Henry H. Epp, the group decided to consider a lay ministry model. According to one veteran leader, Adolf Ens, the group felt that hiring paid staff to do the work would stifle the ministry gifts of members.
The church, now numbering 210 members, relies on a team of five lay ministers who serve three-year terms (to a maximum of two consecutive terms). Licensed by Mennonite Church Manitoba for the duration of their terms, they provide pastoral care, conduct membership classes, perform baptisms, serve communion, preside over child dedications, and perform other ministerial duties. Some have formal theological training, but that is not a requirement for ministry. The team gathers monthly to coordinate ministry tasks, and connects in between through e-mail or phone.
Pastoral care shared
Pastoral ministry isn’t limited to team members, however. “It’s not necessarily a given that a lay minister will be involved in a wedding or a funeral,” explains Lois Friesen Wiebe, who recently completed two terms on the ministry team, including the last year as chair. “We’ve had funerals where K-groups (small groups) are really involved in supporting the family.”
Last year, a member in palliative care asked to be served by a member who had previously been a lay minister but was no longer on the roster. The leadership team gladly affirmed the woman in that ministry, including the planning of the funeral for the member.
Over the years, the lay ministry model has evolved and grown, and is now outlined in a 12- point job description in the congregation’s covenant. Duties include finding, and perhaps paying for counseling services for members; ensuring marriage preparation courses are available for engaged couples; organizing and nurturing small groups, and serving on the congregation’s committees.
“Leaders continue to be leaders, whether or not they are currently in a ministry role.” – Adolf Ens
Preaching duties are shared widely throughout the congregation. “The lay ministers don’t speak more or less [often] than other people in the congregation,” explains Henry Loewen, who has served a total of 16 years as a lay minister during his nearly four decades of involvement. “Over the years, a group of preachers and teachers has developed.”
Lay ministers are likewise not the only ones who set direction and vision for the congregation. Each year, following the spring congregational meeting and the election of new committee members, the five lay ministers meet with the administrative “planning committee” and the worship committee to work at overall direction for the church.
Discernment from the grassroots
With ministry shared so freely, leadership positions don’t seem to accrue undue power, says Adolf Ens. “Leaders continue to be leaders, whether or not they are currently in a role.” Not surprisingly, the lines of accountability are also somewhat fluid. “Our best accountability happens because so many people are involved whose work affects the whole congregation.”
Ministers are chosen through an annual discernment process, when members of small groups identify people who have leadership gifts. A list of about fifteen names is cut back to five at a meeting of representatives of committees and small groups, and then ranked from one to five. A two-person committee meets with the five individuals in order of ranking until the vacant positions are filled.
Does a lay ministry model help or hinder a church vision beyond the congregation? According to Ens, Fort Garry’s structure attracts people with energy to serve not only in the congregation but beyond. The congregation supports several individuals and families serving internationally, and many others who are involved in local service through Mennonite Central Committee and other ministries. It has also nurtured leadership gifts in a number of young adults who are now serving in pastoral ministry elsewhere. By not paying a pastor, the congregation has aimed to devote 60 percent of the church budget to ministries outside itself.
Fort Garry’s leaders admit that the lay ministry team concept can work against numerical growth. Newcomers seeking consistency or professionalism in Sunday morning worship, or who are accustomed to connecting with a hired pastor, may not feel at home. This reality causes some members to ask, from time to time, whether it’s time to move to paid ministry. On the other hand, other newcomers see the lay ministry model as an invitation to their own participation.
Henry Loewen says the congregation often struggles with the tension between the traditional role of the priestly office and the Protestant theology of the priesthood of all believers. “We certainly come from the tradition where we chose people from our midst to become ministers,” says Loewen of the way Canadian Mennonite churches elected ministers from within the congregation until paid pastors became prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. “My father used to tell me, ‘If the church calls, you ought to serve.’”
Brenda Suderman is a newspaper columnist and journalist living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is coauthor of the recent study guide, Unsettled Weather: How Do I Forgive? (Herald Press, 2005).
Calvary Community
an apostolic model
by Curtis R. Holsopple
Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Virginia, is known as one of the largest Mennonite congregations on the continent. But equally intriguing is the way the ministry and leadership of this largely African American congregation is organized. Clustered around the mother congregation of 1800 worshippers are five other churches that it has spawned. These continue to come under the oversight of Bishop Leslie Francisco and his wife Pastor Natalie Francisco, both of whom are ordained by the Virginia Mennonite conference.
“We are an apo-congregational church,” Bishop Leslie says—and he is quick to explain. Most Mennonite churches have a congregation-centered leadership style. Calvary’s leadership structure is apostolic, with a clearly focused organizational chart, topped by strong leadership, but it still has congregational input. “Natalie and I provide permanent, long-term leadership and vision. And that is tested by our congregational leadership structure.”
Authoritative and visionary
The Calvary churches lean on the biblical model of Nehemiah, the visionary leader who rebuilt Jerusalem after the Exile. Nehemiah recruited and trained others who could join in that visionary effort. A strong Christian vision likewise runs deep in Bishop Francisco’s life. His father, Leslie Francisco Sr. (now deceased) was a co-founder and lead pastor at Calvary in the 1950s. His son is Bishop Leslie Francisco Jr., whose maternal grandfather was a well-known and respected preacher in Hampton and Newport News. It is said Leslie Sr. became a preacher—but his son was born a preacher.
Every Tuesday morning, Bishop and Pastor Francisco meet with their executive council. Minister Steve Brown is the executive ministry director, and he spearheads much of the day-today operation of the church’s ministries. Brown explains that African American churches, regardless of denominational labels, tend to lean on a senior pastor for vision and insight. They often prefer someone who is authoritative, but not an authoritarian dictator. This strong leadership style stands in contrast to many majority-white churches, but Calvary sees a very scriptural base for it. Obedience to God, following Jesus, waiting for the Holy Spirit—these are not determined by majority votes and committee reports.
The Franciscos, Brown and five other pastoral staff, in turn, work with a 24-person Care Minister group. They further relate to 49 couples called Care Deacons, and each deacon couple is assigned a dozen or so households to shepherd. It looks like a top-down organizational chart, but communication and accountability go both ways.
A message to pass along
Brown says that Calvary’s church growth comes from several ingredients. “Our message is practical and simple, something people can take home.” The Calvary churches focus their efforts around five core values. They are (1) Christ centered, (2) excellence propelled, (3) seeker friendly, (4) service oriented, and (5) family focused. All church leaders are taught these five core values, and they pass them along to the rest of the congregation.
“We move quickly from vision to a solution. Processing is involved, but it leads to clear action steps, and then we put people in position to carry out the action.” – Steve Brown
“We are building people out of the disenfranchised and the disillusioned,” Brown says. “Some of our people were drug addicts and homeless. Now they have jobs, houses, businesses. We’ve helped young people with their education. We’re in partnership with the Peninsula Crisis Pregnancy Center. We’ve helped with the local women’s shelter.” Calvary’s ministries are endless, and includes a preschoolers ministry, a Christian day school, prison ministry, drama, and television.
Calvary sees its purpose as reconciling people to Christ by giving them an example of the love Jesus gave. As people show Christian maturity and growth, they are quickly tapped on the shoulder and given some clearly defined work to do within the church. The Calvary leadership works actively to bring in fresh talent and new energy, giving them the opportunity for training and promoting growth.
When asked if the executive council, care ministers and care deacons have helped save them from pastoral burn-out, Bishop Leslie and Pastor Natalie both smile and say, “Oh yes!” Calvary’s network of leaders ensures that there are no wallflowers, no overlooked visitors, no drifting believers who go unnoticed, and the people doing the shepherding have a manageable workload. Mutual accountability is constant, swift, prayerful, and redemptive. No Christian—new or old—is beyond needing help.
“Unlike many Mennonite churches that do a lot of processing,” explains Brown, “we move more quickly from vision to a solution. Processing is involved, but it leads to clear action steps, and then we put people in position to carry out the action.”
The Chesapeake church plant is an interesting example. Calvary wanted a couple with missionary zeal to head that effort. Through Stanley Green, executive director of the Mennonite Mission Network, Pastor Steve Francisco (who died suddenly in 2004) and Minister Steve Brown visited New Zion International Church in South Africa. As a result, Flynn and Karen Ranchod came from South Africa to plant a church in southeastern Virginia under the Calvary umbrella.
North Americans are not accustomed to getting outside help, but with Calvary’s vision and resources coupled with the Ranchods’ love of the Lord and missionary zeal, the Chesapeake church is thriving.
Bishop Leslie Francisco freely shares the recipe for success. “When we feel led by Jesus, we test it throughout the leadership structure, and they are responsible to test it with individual families in the church. By the time any action is up for a congregational vote, people are informed, and the ideas are well-tested. Good ideas float—bad ideas sink quickly.” A prophetic word and divine insight may come from anywhere in the church, but it’s tested thoroughly by the church leadership.
Curtis R. Holsopple serves on the mass communication faculty at Virginia State University, Petersburg, a majority African American institution. He lives in Newport News, Virginia.
South Hutchinson
a purpose-driven model
by Laurie L. Oswald
Howard Wagler was several years into his first pastorate when he stumbled across Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose-Driven Church. “I read until 3 in the morning, and was greatly impacted,” he recalls. “The book presented a simple but profound way to do church, one that I could grasp at its heart and still apply some of my Anabaptist/Mennonite understandings.”
Warren’s church model unleashed new energy in Wagler as he encouraged South Hutchinson (Kansas) Mennonite Church to reach out to its community through focused ministries in worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions. A new and nimbler style of leadership took form, which interweaves pastoral staff and elders, more worship variety, and more focus on inviting all people to use their gifts.
The result has been profound transformation and growth in the congregation. When Wagler began in 1992, the congregation had one traditional Sunday morning worship service and 150 members, many of whom had Mennonite historical roots. It now has three services on Sunday morning with worship that ranges from traditional to contemporary. About half of the more than 475 members did not grow up Mennonite.
A nimble structure
Gary Wolfer, an elder who chairs both the leadership team and the congregation, has presided over the development of the new team leadership structure. Formerly, a traditional council dealt with the physical plant and finances while a board of elders dealt with spiritual issues.
The congregation is now in its fourth year of a more integrated model that, according to Wolfer, heightens the congregation’s sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading. There is now only one leadership team, consisting of four paid pastors (two men and two women) and seven elders charged with facilitating six ministry areas: Welcome and Pastoral Care, Christian Education, Mission/Service /Evangelism, Gifts Discernment/Volunteerism, Resource and Personnel, and Chair of the Elders.
Each ministry is chaired by an elder, and involves one of the pastors suited to that area of ministry. Together the elder and the pastor are free to recruit and build other teams around these “circles” of ministry.
According to Wagler, the key element in this change has been exposure to other churches that are growing and spiritually energetic. In the years leading up to the new structure, he and congregational leaders attended “purpose driven” seminars at Warren’s church in California. The two questions Wagler posed after such visits were: “How did this impact you personally?” and “What grabbed you in terms of where God wants us to be as a congregation?” The questions continue to be asked as the church sends staff and lay leaders to study purpose-driven and other models of ministry.
Through such events, South Hutchinson members began to recognize ministries that were at the heart of the church’s identity and calling. While the growth has meant an increase in pastoral staff, professionalism is not taking over the congregation; instead, says Wagler, lay involvement has only multiplied. A broader circle of 30 to 40 leaders—double the number of elected leaders in the previous structure—is now involved in ministries overseen by the team of elders and pastors. They include small group coordinators, task force leaders, and committee chairs.
The leadership team model, says Wagler, “helps us to discern more fully and quickly. We spend lots of time praying about issues, so we know the general direction of where God is taking us. So when specific decisions come up, we have a solid place to start from.”
The team makes many decisions on its own that would previously have been put to the whole congregation and its committees—whether a delegation of leaders to training conferences, or funding ministry initiatives. On projects that require more than 10 percent of the church’s budget, or for staffing decisions, the team holds congregational “town hall meetings” for dialogue and input, followed by a congregational vote.
Key discernment and prayer happens most directly in weekly staff meetings and in one-day team meetings three or four times a year. The retreats, says Wagler, are times to nurture vision and build team unity—”a time to be honest with each other and pray for one another.” The meetings are also a time to deal with potential conflict.
Conflict is huge in churches that want to change,” Wagler admits, “and so as soon as there is a conflict management seminar, we really encourage our new staff to go.” As lead pastor, Wagler says he has been learning to deal with conflict by listening and asking questions, rather than by debating. “Let’s be creative—what can we try? What is Christ’s call here?” he asks team members or congregational members who find change difficult. Often, Wagler says, conflict actually stimulates new avenues of ministry.
Newcomers serve right away
South Hutchinson’s restructuring has also helped the church to invite all attenders to use their gifts. In 2005, the congregation created “first-serve” opportunities—a list of ministry involvements that newcomers could choose to do right away, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey.
“They don’t have to wait for years or the nomination of a committee to begin serving,” Gary Wolfer says. “We can plug them in right away. If we first require people to believe as we do, then we will miss speaking to the greatestemotion in our world today—loneliness. We hope people have a sense of belonging and over time grow into an understanding of what we believe.”
Wagler tells of one flag-waving Vietnam veteran who was drawn to the church. Some members were uncomfortable with having him become involved in ministry. Still, he was allowed to be a greeter, was drawn into fellowship, and in the process of discipleship has been transformed. Now, says Wagler, the flag-waving is gone, and he is leading a Bible study among other vets— something the congregation could never have done without someone of his background.
Gary Wolfer, who has been part of the congregation since he was two, agrees the church has opened up in recent years. “The biggest change I’ve seen is that we no longer have just one kind of people here,” he notes. “Some people come with tattoos and body piercings. Two decades ago, we wouldn’t have known what to do with them. We’re working at accepting people as Jesus would.”
Strong leadership and eager service grow out of genuine worship, Wagler says, explaining the variety of worship styles found in the three weekly worship services. “The new things happening don’t negate the tried and true worship that grows out of our past,” Wagler says. “It’s not about worship wars. It’s about helping people to worship God with open and true hearts and bringing new people into the body of Christ.”
Wagler is quick to point out that the leadership team is still learning, and that the model is not without challenges. However, the missional passion is clear. “We are trying the best we can in our community to ride the wave of God,” he says. “Like the Apostle Paul, we are striving to be all things to all people so that we can reach some.”
Laurie Oswald is completing her work as news service director for Mennonite Church USA. She is the new editor for Timbrel, the magazine of Mennonite Women. She lives in Newton, Kansas.
Which model is “us”?
by Keith Harder
While there is a no single leadership pattern in the New Testament, the New Testament church nevertheless did emphasize a pattern of shared leadership. In Acts 6, we see a distribution of tasks among a variety of people. In Acts 15 a group of leaders gathered to discern the direction for the Christian movement. In Acts 20 Paul speaks to the gathered elders in Ephesus and later, in his letter to the Ephesians, says that God gave gifts for multiple roles for the purpose of “equipping” others for their ministries (4:11-13).
Shared leadership and distributed ministry has also been at the heart of Mennonite teaching and practice. The Mennonite Polity for Ministerial Leadership claims that Mennonite congregations use various forms of a “three-fold ministry,” which includes “oversight, pastoral leadership and some form of lay ministry (deacons or elders).”
Today, some think a pastor-centered model, where one or more trained and paid minister(s) fill the primary ministry roles, compromises a vision for shared leadership and shared ministry. This model, they believe, puts unrealistic and unsustainable expectations on these few professional ministers and creates an unhealthy dependence on them. This orientation may have been part of why the Fort Garry congregation (page 3) developed the way it did. A completely lay structure, they felt, would spur all members to use their gifts.
Others believe that too much emphasis on shared leadership results in weak leadership, endless process, and stalemate. Missional outreach, they say, is sacrificed at the altar of shared leadership and process. This concern has resulted in some congregations that adopt apostolic leadership, where more leadership authority is given to one or a few leaders in the congregation. This is the model that Calvary Community has chosen (page 5).
Some believe that shared leadership masks a Mennonite phobia about giving too much authority to one or a few persons. A lack of clear leadership, they say, is one reason why Mennonite congregations tend not to grow. In fact, that is why some congregations who want stronger leadership than what they believe Mennonite polity allows, leave the established conferences.
To fulfill their missional calling, other congregations are experimenting with new ways of sharing leadership and distributing ministry while still valuing clear and strong leadership. At South Hutchinson Mennonite (page 7) ministry is distributed through a leadership team made up of paid professionals and volunteer elders chosen by the congregation. These, in turn, recruit people to lead specific parts of the church’s ministry.
Common themes
In the three congregations featured here, I find several helpful themes:
- 1. Streamlined decision-making can enhance a congregation’s capacity to engage more people in ministry and mission. Calvary wants to “move quickly from process to solution,” but the profile also talks about carefully processing major decisions with the congregation through its leadership structure.
- 2. Seeking and discerning God’s purpose and direction together is crucial. All of these congregations speak of a central vision that energizes them. The vision has emerged in a variety of ways and from a variety of directions—from the primary “apostolic” leader (Calvary), from a purpose-driven church model (South Hutchinson), and from within the congregation (Fort Garry).
- 3. Results and outcomes are important. Again, the results are different but the teams in the three churches have found ways to be accountable to the results that flow out of their vision. Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, says that not paying attention to results is one of the “dysfunctions” that beset many leadership teams.
Questions for further exploration
These profiles also raise some important questions about shared leadership, leadership teams, and ministry in the congregation.
- 1. What is the role of the pastor? If we see that too much dependence on pastors is unhealthy for pastors and congregations, will we overcorrect and undermine the appropriate leadership role of pastors?
- 2. Could we bring more clarity in these matters if we would distinguish between leadership teams and ministry teams? Using the terms interchangeably can be confusing. Can we think of one overall leadership team in a congregation facilitating a variety of ministry teams such as worship, children, youth, single parents, or soup kitchen? Through the work of a good leadership team, ministry teams can emerge quickly and easily, offering vehicles for the ministry passions of everyone, including new people. Ministry is thus multiplied. Besides, engaging people in ministries that reflect their passion is one of the best ways for pastors to check their tendency to over-function or to do more than what is healthy for them to do.
- 3. What makes for an efficient, healthy team? How will leadership and ministry teams deal with conflict? How can members take time to nurture relationships and vision, and not just do tasks? How can a team be accountable (within itself and toward the congregation) without getting bogged down in process?
Many of these questions are addressed in other articles in this issue. In your leadership or ministry team, it may be helpful to discuss the questions above after reading this issue, highlighting insights that are relevant to your setting. Moreover, the resources listed on pages 47-48 may inspire further study and action.
Keith Harder is Director of Congregational and Ministerial Leadership for Mennonite Church USA. He lives in Hillsboro, Kansas.