WANTED: Gifted, responsible, and enthusiastic church volunteer for leadership position. Must be motivated and committed. Tither preferred. Many openings. Available immediately.
How many pastors, without a touch of guilt, have dreamed of trading half their congregation for just one or two people with the above qualifications?
Probably most of us. Then again, we often wonder if our church already has leaders hidden among its newest members. If so, how do we find them?
On the one hand, we can push new members too hard and scare them off, or worse, we can give them too much responsibility too soon and create a situation where they fail, to the church's and their own detriment.
On the other hand, we can be too slow in giving positions of leadership and thus squander a valuable resource. When and how much do we give new members significant responsibility?
At Suffern Alliance Church, which we launched three years ago, almost everyone is either a new convert or a young-in-the-faith Christian who came to us after painful experiences in other churches.
Thus, with few mature Christians, we've had to figure out how to train as many new members for as many leadership roles as possible, and how to determine when they're ready.
So we developed a plan: we try to discern which new people have potential for spiritual leadership, then we evaluate what they're ready to do immediately, and finally we cultivate their leadership growth.
Here's how this has worked out-our joys as well as our bruises!
Do Something-Anything
We start with the somewhat risky approach of asking all newcomers, by their third or fourth visit, to take on a church responsibility.
These jobs-either short-term or ongoing-include setting out Bibles (we rent facilities), participating in a simple skit, singing in an ensemble, monitoring our sound system, making name tags, or reading the Scripture during a service.
Thus, usually before the new person has had an opportunity to ponder membership, he or she has been asked to assume a small degree of responsibility.
We've developed a "master tracking system," a checklist that tracks the attention we give newcomers. Although only sixty people attend our services, we needed such a chart because we, like most churches, promptly tend to neglect newcomers' need to be included.
The payoff has been two-sided.
First, every new person feels needed and begins developing those all-important relationships that help people feel at home with us and mature spiritually.
Second, our get-involved strategy serves as an instant screening process for new leadership development. It shows us which people are dependable and willing learners. From among these, a few natural leaders will emerge, especially the initiating, responsible types.
We've learned that such people influence the rest of the church, whether they're formal leaders or not. So we try to guide them so they mature spiritually and influence the rest of the church body positively.
But the first step is to find them!
I wanted to start with Sue. She was a gracious person with a ready smile who made the time to listen. But we quickly discovered she was unwilling to extend her commitment further.
"Could you come early next week and update our literature table?" No time.
"How about in the next couple of weeks?" Too busy.
"Since I notice you like the back row, and you happen to be next to the light switch, would you mind cutting it on and off each week when we use the overhead projector?" No, she preferred just to sit and worship.
People like Sue, who are unwilling to get involved, may or may not be potential leaders. But if they consistently turn down responsibility, all we can do is pray, wait for a change of heart, and, in the meantime, look elsewhere for lay leadership.
Other people are quick to take on a responsibility, but often we wonder if they'll come through.
Bennie was like that. A nonstop talker, he could strike up a conversation with any person on virtually any topic. He had strong opinions, but while expressing them he also revealed his deep commitment to doing what is right before God.
I decided that he could help us make phone calls. The first batches of calls I gave him wouldn't directly affect others if he didn't come through (finding out at what price we should sell our dying photocopier, locating bulk-rate postal stamps, etc.). But when he did the job faithfully, I also asked him to call through the church list to invite people to our special events.
I saw that beneath his willing words was an equally willing spirit. God had put a potential leader in our midst. And how he influences others! When he did the calling, attendance was usually higher than expected. Bennie had shown that he was ready for the next stage of leadership training.
Show Us Your Motives
After newcomers have been with us for a few months and have shown a willingness to take increasing responsibilities, I prayerfully try to discern their motives.
John, for example, usually had one answer to everything I asked: "Okay, Pastor, I'll try it!" We trusted each other, as he and I quickly recognized (although neither of us said so for about two years). He knew my first interest was to stretch him spiritually.
A relatively new believer, he was like a sponge soaking up the principles of the Christian life. As a result, in every responsibility-from helping install office shelves to serving as an usher-he looked for ways he could grow in his understanding of God. As he flourished spiritually, we invested more energies to train him as a leader.
By contrast, Suzanne illustrates the risk of giving a newcomer sanctioned visibility too quickly. She was warm and bubbly and willingly agreed to pass out bulletins. So I asked her to do so, and then for another week, and then another.
I didn't know it at the time, but she was distributing more than bulletins; she was also sowing seeds of discontent ("Hope the service isn't too long today"), disloyalty ("Looks like another week when the pastor isn't quite ready for us"), and division ("Drop by our place after church-everyone's coming, but we didn't invite the pastor since he's so busy").
When reports of these verbal viruses reached me, I spoke with her privately. Gradually I realized that Suzanne was a gifted leader but was also unteachable. She had come to our church with her own agenda and would not change it. Eventually she decided to leave rather than to let us help her change her negative attitude.
We accept such disappointments as part of life in ministry. If we give people opportunities to grow and stretch, we're also risking failure.
One visitor who came to our weeknight Bible study volunteered to bring the snack the next week. After she didn't show, I phoned and, trying to be gracious, invited her back. I added that if Bible study wasn't her interest right then, we understood.
"Oh no, I'll be there and bring the snack next week for sure," she said. When she didn't show again, I phoned to say we missed her. She replied, "Oh, didn't my husband call you? My daughter's wedding rehearsal was scheduled that night, so we couldn't come."
She never returned to Suffern Alliance Church. In our minds, however, our show-us-your-motives strategy didn't cause the closed door; it merely sped up what apparently was inevitable.
Check Baggage Here
As we try to discern our potential leaders' motives, we also try to learn what emotional and psychological baggage these new members bring with them.
Carlo, for instance, came to us after a fallout with another church. He had been a "holly and lilly" churchgoer when his marriage dissolved. He began listening to the gospel via a TV minister, and he began studying the Bible alone. On his own he placed his faith in Christ and continued avidly learning from TV preachers. Eventually he picked up the Yellow Pages, looked under "churches," and started attending one.
Two years later he left that church to return to media ministries, complaining about the hypocrisy and busyness required to operate a church.
Another disillusioned person from that church brought Carlo to our new congregation. I was impressed by Carlo's concern that the church's priority should be ministry, not maintenance. I shared that desire, and I was confident that Carlo would fit in well at our church. Since he seemed reliable and conscientious, I gave him two major leadership responsibilities.
One day, however, Carlo abruptly stopped attending. He wouldn't speak openly with me, although he continued to lead the home Bible study I had entrusted to him. The others in the study told me that Carlo was frustrated with certain people (meaning, primarily, my wife and me) who didn't measure up to his expectations. He complained that "many church responsibilities aren't purely spiritual." His solution was to read his Bible and listen to the electronic church.
I painfully saw my error: I had naively assumed that a change of church would solve Carlo's unresolved hurts and needs. I had been so eager to plug leaders into waiting ministries that I had not taken time to make sure Carlo had been healed of his past. Carlo had not left his baggage behind at the last stop; he had accumulated even more during his stay with us.
It's not easy to do a background check and learn what seeds have been sown in someone's past. Yet, watching how new members respond to church conflicts is almost as good. Are they shaken by conflict, or can they accept it as an inevitable part of life, even the Christian life?
Robbie, for example, came to us as a hurting, guilt-ridden Christian. He was weighed down by the feeling that he was not doing enough. That was the message he had heard in every sermon and counseling session at his last church.
Robbie not only asked me to help him work through his pain, but he also felt moved by God to reach out to Carlo. I was particularly grateful for his concern, since I had been praying that Robbie would head up Carlo's Bible study group and keep it from splintering.
Robbie gently listened to Carlo's concerns and suggested that Carlo go directly to me and my wife and tell us about our alleged wrongs. When Carlo's only response was more private criticism of us and the rest of the church, Robbie refused to be poisoned as well by joining in on the gossip.
After several months, the Bible study fell apart, but Carlo, with his circle of influence, was still denying any need for reconciliation. Robbie could have felt like a failure for not doing more, but instead he emerged stronger, more mature, and more respected by the rest of the church. He was a leader proven and refined by fire, able to handle even more spiritual responsibility.
Sometimes people come to us with emotional scars from their parents. We have, for example, a number of adult children of alcoholics (ACA's, they call themselves). Most of them have deeply ingrained tendencies to procrastinate, shirk responsibility, blame others, and depend on alcohol or tobacco for handling pressure.
It's been exciting to see, day by day, a few of these members not only step out of the shackles of their past but also let God develop leadership abilities, which they had no idea existed.
A husband and wife were the first lay people we asked to lead a church Bible study. Between the two of them, they had experienced incredible hurts-abandonment by their parents, alcoholism, divorce from each other. But their lives turned around, and three years later they remarried each other.
For a while, they had a juicy fight every week as they prepared the Bible lesson, but they've grown dramatically. And now people respond resoundingly to their authentic, convincing witness-a sure sign of their spiritual leadership.
Check Their Vision
By the time we've worked with potential leaders for six months, we can usually size up who has the human ability and the emotional stability to handle a church leadership position.
But how deeply have they integrated the spiritual aspects of being a leader? How thoroughly has their faith influenced their view of what they're doing?
Many pastors (including me) will admit to having been burned so many times that we're wary of lay leaders. We may wonder, Just how much can this leader be trusted?
I've discovered people's trustworthiness can be gauged by their loyalty and vision.
Vision and loyalty do not always go hand in hand. People may enthusiastically agree with our purpose but not have their loyalties properly aligned. Herbert, a CPA by profession, praised the church up and down during his first months with us, so I asked him to help with our financial records.
But as time went on, I noticed that his affection for his church family was roused only when he was in need. When his marriage was soaring or his job sailing along, his interest in the church lessened.
Herbert's loyalty, unfortunately, was only as deep as his desire for us to meet his needs. As a result, he ended up wounding many people.
If anyone is holding back where loyal commitment is obviously needed-finances, time, talents-we have learned that there must be an important reason. And before that person can become an effective leader, the problem will need to be faced.
Loyalty, however, is relatively easy to spot. Discerning a person's vision requires greater perception.
Terri, amiable and easygoing, has demonstrated a clear commitment to our church. She volunteers in the church office (dragging three kids with her) and oversees our monthly potluck meals. Her allegiance to the church is clear, but what about her vision?
One Sunday, my part-time assistant pastor was away, and I had been feeling sick. I joked with Terri about my waking up in the middle of the night afraid I wouldn't be able to crawl to church for the worship service.
"You shouldn't have worried, Pastor," Terri said.
"If you couldn't make it, we could have rallied the church and led the worship ourselves. And the visitors would have loved it!"
Terri had learned that God wants everyone in the church, not just pastors, to do ministry. She had grasped the big picture of why we do what we do. After our conversation, I knew Terri had our vision. She was ready for more areas of church oversight.
Letting Them Lead
Should people have to wait a specified period before assuming a major leadership role? We think not. Realistically, a new member will need to be involved for six months to a year before the congregation can accurately observe and prayerfully assess his or her leadership abilities. But establishing a time frame would detract from our major concern: taking what we have and making the most of it.
For me, few tasks rank higher than getting to know newcomers, giving them responsibilities, and helping them discover how God has gifted them.
Yes, training leaders takes time. We've found, however, that it's well worth the effort, for eventually we will have an effective team laboring with us to "equip the saints in the work of the ministry."
Thus, a pastor needn't dream about placing a want ad to find that desperately needed torchbearer. Instead, with the help of God, we can look for the leadership that's already in the congregation.
Copyright © 1990 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
