Have you ever had your time, energy and spiritual gifts seemingly wasted with ineffective ministry meetings? I’ve had some hum dingers in my day. I remember a church meeting in my first pastorate in the early ’90s where I was falsely accused of trying to change the name of the church. That was a trip! I’ve even had to abruptly end a church meeting years ago in my current pastorate because things had gotten out of hand. It was awful. That was then. This is now. Things have changed when it comes to our congregational business meetings. Here are seven keys to help make your meetings the bomb.com whether they are for a ministry team within the church or the entire congregation!
1. Use the meetings as building blocks for the vision of the ministry.
Many of my colleagues have gotten away from congregational meetings. But my desire is that every gathering works toward manifesting the vision for our church. Every rehearsal, worship experience, Bible study, various ministry team meeting and quarterly church meeting—yes, we have congregational meetings once a quarter—is to work as a building block to make the vision come to fruition. Use your meetings to make the vision for your respective ministry a reality by sharing teachings or facilitating discussions on required reading. This helps everyone involved to keep growing and become and accomplish what the Lord has ordained. Over the years, our once-upon-a-time-sometimes-awful church meetings have enhanced the culture in our church immensely.
2. Use the meetings to develop trust.
Allow for questions and candid discussions on sensitive issues. Be honest in the answers you provide. Don’t give people the run around! Admit whenever you drop the ball and apologize when necessary. Demonstrate you care about what’s on people’s minds, especially when there are concerns pertaining to money. I have used some of our church meetings simply for Q & A, where I received questions in advance and provided a presentation with the answers. This has helped breed trust, which is one of your most powerful tools in your leadership toolkit.
