Resources e-letter 19:3 - June 2019

NEW: ‘How to lead a team at church – Practical help for beginners’

Churches include all kinds of so-called teams, such as a Finance Team, a Newcomers Team, a Ministry Team. But should a Music Group not be a team, and can even something like a Church Council seek to work as though a team?

This Article investigates what a team really is and gives practical help to anyone who leads one, especially those who have not had opportunity to reflect on the distinctive nature of team leadership.

It starts by listing four features that turn a group into a team. It then demonstrates the biblical foundations for working together and lists typical church teams.

A second part warns against common misconceptions, both concerning the use of the ‘team’ word and especially relating to team leadership. Does the leader need to be the most senior member … and is it better for them to chair team meetings or not? Why do teams need to be small?

The third and main part of the Article lists eight pieces of advice for leaders:

1. Hold everyone to the team task and vision
2. Identify and model the team values
3. Build the personal relationships
4. Demonstrate your leadership role
5. Understand individual and team needs
6. Identify and utilise team roles
7. Enable team development
8. Make team meetings special

Article A45, How to lead a team at church – Practical help for beginners, is now available without charge from the Articles index page of this website.

Training Notes – if you want something shorter

There are 115 sets of Training Notes on the website with two more planned for August. The TN series consists of items of no more than 2,000 words, a five-minute read providing down-to-earth advice over a range of practical church topics.

Here are the titles uploaded over the past year, the most recent one first.  All are accessed from the Training Notes index page.
  

TN115   Identifying gifts of administration
How to spot a gifted administrator when you meet one

TN114   How to prepare a church profile
Four aims, one team and six suggested sections

TN113   What to avoid on your website
18 features of church websites to steer clear of

TN112   Set my leaders free!
Acts 6:1-7 explained with church leaders in mind

TN111   A church policies checklist
The policies we are expected to have, and where to start

TN110   It’s confidential: but it still leaks out
Breaches of confidence: when, why, where, what, how

TN109   A test for your church’s welcome
20 tests to check out if you’re as welcoming as you claim to be

TN108   What do budgets actually tell us?
Their content and how they are produced say much about your church

TN107   A  church policy on hospitality
Encouraging a church-wide culture of hospitality

With my warmest good wishes for all your involvement in church life.