Discovering, Connecting, Enlisting, and Training, Part 1

There is a principle that is not refutable; we enlist our problems or potential.  The way a person is connected to his/her ministry position often determines the effectiveness of the ministry.  Think about it. How were YOU enlisted?  If you’re like many wonderful, committed members you were approached in the hallway of the church. Or maybe you were called on the phone and presented with a “hole that needs plugging” and identified as the person that needs to fill it whether you fit the “hole” or not.

Often these wonderful members love their church and her people and want to help, and they say yes.  They don’t intentionally want to do a poor job, but they do because their gifts fail to fit the ministry.  The Nominating Committee may be notorious for “plugging holes.”

A transition to a Ministry Connection Team can change the focus from the “hole that needs plugging” to the person with passions, gifts, and life experiences who needs to be connected to a ministry that fits him/her.  A Ministry Connection Team starts with the person not the position.  It works to discover the gifts of the church members and then connect them to a ministry that they will love.  The Ministry Connection Team enlists the Sunday School Ministry Team Leader who then uses the same principles to connect gifted people to ministry positions on the Sunday School Ministry Team.

Principles of Discovering and Connecting People to the S.S. Ministry

1. Pastor:  Communicate the mission of the church and ways the S.S. will accomplish this ministry 
2. The Ministry Connection Team uses a Passion and Spiritual Gift Survey to discover the passions and gifts of the congregation.
3. The Ministry Connection Team discovers, interviews, and enlists a church member whose gifts fit the ministry position of the Sunday School Team Leader.
4. The Sunday School Team Leader works with the Ministry Connection Team to discover, interview, and enlist those with gifts that fit the S.S. Ministry Team.
5. The Sunday School Team Leader sets high Standards 
6. The Sunday School Team invites leaders to become specialists
7. Each S.S. leader will be enlisted with the same process.
8. Each leader’s name is pre-screened and confirmed by the church Ministry Connection Team before they are enlisted.
9. All leaders enlisted are affirmed by the congregation.

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Phil Stone is the State Sunday School Director for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.