Ten keys to establishing and maintaining authority in your ministry.
1. Know your Pastor’s vision and submit yourself to his authority. Give others a good example to follow!
2. Represent your Pastor well. Represent him in all things from the way you dress, in the way you serve, in your family life to your business dealings. Jesus showed his submission to his Father by telling his disciples if you’ve seen him you have seen the Father.
3. Seek to establish your Pastor’s heart into your leadership and into all the people who serve in your ministry. Authority works best when it is unbroken.
Build allegiance & loyalties to the Pastor not to yourself.
4. Make a flow chart of the flow of leadership in your department. Let people see the chain of command so they know how to function. Establish middle managers to help you lead. Start by identifing every position for a volunteer. Write out all duties and make a job description. Always delegate authority along with responsibility. Establish policies and train your team how you want it done
5. Spend time with your middle managers & key leadership. Teach, coach and model ministry. Allow them to ask questions and learn from you.
6. Inspect and evaluate how things are being done. People don’t do wat you expect they do what you inspect.
7. Make corrections, constantly improve. Dare to confront. Don’t be afraid to discipline workers after they won’t head your corrections. I believe we prove our love for people when we dare to correct them.
8. Constantly show your volunteers that you appreciate them. Put your key workers in the lime light. Allow them to be recognized. One of the reasons volunteers over step their bounds is they don’t think those in authority value them. Look for every opportunity to brag on those who represent you well. Catch people doing things right!
9. Teach and encourage your leaders to put into those under them. Successful teams have depth at all key positions.
10. Make changes that are needed. Don’t just keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. Same action brings same results. Listen to your volunteers and let them help you identify if there is a better way to do things. Constantly improve. As your ministry grows allow your structure to grow also. Remember to keep the leadership above you in the know, especially when volunteers oversteping their bounds. Always side with authority. Leaders who side with the Word and the authority of the house are not always popular but their always right.
