Priorities for Part-time Ministers
This week we’re answering the following question raised at last year’s Connect Conference:
Since I am part-time in ministry, what are the top three things I should commit to in order to make ministry happen?
I just finished a part-time ministry position in a church, so this is one question I can answer with pretty good clarity.
Make sure you are on the same page as the full-time ministers in your church.
Because you won’t spend endless hours with the ministerial staff, you need to make sure expectations and goals are crystal clear. You won’t be with them in meetings, at lunch, or just hanging with them in the office, and those are the times when moments of clarity often arrive. So, follow-up with them on everything from the big picture to the small details. Make certain you are communicating clearly and following the same vision.
For example, you’re a part-time young adult minister. Where should you focus most of your time? On young married couples? On single 20-somethings? If you and your full-time ministerial staff don’t have the same answer to this question, you have a problem.
Focus on over-communicating.
E-mail? Great. Facebook? Wonderful. Texting? Beautiful. Phone? Outstanding. Use every communication tool available to you, but don’t rely on just one to make sure everyone knows what’s happening. I once read in a marketing book that it takes seven different touches to make a sale. I think the same rule applies to church life. If you’re starting a small group, you probably need to make multiple touches with people through multiple methods to make sure they know they’re invited, where they need to go, and what they need to do. If you’re launching a mid-week worship service, the same truth applies.
Two big cautions also apply here. Don’t rely on electronic methods when you need to make a personal touch. Texting one of your leaders a note of comfort when they lose their job doesn’t cut it. They need a visit. They need to look you in the eyes and know that you care. Don’t abandon snail mail either. People like to get cards and letters from you. They know it took time, and they know you went out of your way to think of them. So, be a cards and letters kind of part-time minister.
Invest in your leaders.
Depending on the size of church you serve in, you may not have time to personally invest in every person your ministry touches. However, you MUST make time to personally invest in your leaders. They are the heart and soul of your ministry, and you need to pour yourself into them. Help them become better Bible study leaders. Listen and address their concerns. Know what’s happening in their personal and spiritual lives. Know when they’re burnt out and need to take some time off. Know them by heart and make sure they know you love them. Follow Jesus’ model of pouring into the 12 disciples. He couldn’t spend time with every person in the crowd. While He did invest in select people from the crowds, like the woman at the well, Nicodemus, or Zacchaeus, He spent most of His time with His leaders.
About the Author
Jim is the director of Young Adult Ministry at LifeWay Christian Resources. He has worked for the past 11 years in a variety of roles, ranging from marketing to publishing to Internet development. Before being called to full-time ministry, he worked as a reporter and editor at Alabama’s capital city daily newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser, for 10 years. Prior to coming to LifeWay, he also worked as an adult-in-missions editor at the Brotherhood Commission in Memphis. Jim and his wife Tammy have been married for 23 years and have two sons, Spenser, 17, and Ethan, 10.
There have been 3 replies so far
Nice short article. Perfect for the part-time minister, like myself. Two questions did come to mind.
First, your first point strikes me as interesting. For me this point was worthless, because there is not full time person I have access to. My part time role doesn’t relate to a larger group with a full time person. Rather it’s a loose network of four other part-time directors spread throughout the state. So, if this point doesn’t apply what would you substitute?
Second, where is time spent with God? I find that the less I’m avalible on campus, the more I need to be studying the Bible and learning from God. He’ll teach me what students need to know and will guide my paths to those that need to hear from Him. This may be an assumption you are making on ministers, but it is to important not to place on the list.
Those are my thoughts. Any others?
1 | Aaron
Thursday, March 5, 2009, at 11:12pm
I’m a volunteer leader in my church. Together with two men, we lead one of the “expressions” in our church, a group of 15-20 peoplethat meets every Sunday. All three of us are volunteers: two in full time work, one studying for a masters degree.
For me, the first two points were most valid. We have a lot of autonomy in our expression to take it where we feel God leading, but we also need to be connected in to the rest of the church and so good communication with the full time staff is absolutely vital. I think that involves both their realising that we are BUSY most of the day and that this is quite a time burden (one we are happy to take up!), and for us to realise that they are concerned with the bigger picture and vision, that their priorities might not be exactly the same as ours.
And wow I am realising how true the second point it. We email, text, call, try to meet up with the people in our group. This probably takes MOST of my time but I see it being the most valuable part since we are trying to build an authentic community of faith, and trust has got to come first!
2 | Fiona
Friday, March 6, 2009, at 5:02am
I struggled with placing a strong ongoing relationship with Christ on this list, but I am guilty of assuming that was a given when I probably should not. If you’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, I am assuming you have a desire to pray, to study His word and to be transformed on a daily basis.
I should not assume those facts.
Tim Keller was here not along ago to talk with us and he made a statement that has stuck in my heart. “Don’t count on your ministry to save you.”
Great word. Count on Jesus.
No matter where you serve, you serve somebody (Bob Dylan’s words, not mine). You may not be directly linked to a minister, but you are directly linked to some ministerial group somewhere who decides if you are doing the work you were assigned to do. That’s the person(s) you must be on on the same page with.
One other tip. Be a detail person no matter what side of your brain dominates your daily life. You have to dig down into the details of ministry to know whether what you are doing is truly working and whether disciples are being made.
Great posts Fiona, and Aaron. You made me think.
3 | Jim Johnston
Friday, March 6, 2009, at 9:00am
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