August 26, 2021
How to Lead and Serve at the Same Time
Feeling Called
Often in ministry positions, people feel called to Lead, but they also want to make sure they are following the example of Serving as well. Today, we want to quickly provide some no non-sense areas of how to Lead and Serve at the same time.
But first, let’s take a minute to talk about Intuition Fences. In a recent MM staff development, we tackled these question for our team: 1. Where are our fences? and 2. How can we expand them, if necessary?
“In order to expand our Intuitive Fences, we have to become comfortable with being intentionally uncomfortable.“
– Jason Jaggard, Coach, Speaker, Author and Founder | Novus Global (Source)
Moving the Fence
Now, you might be wondering, what do fences have to do with leadership? Well, that is where our capacity to decide where the possible and the improbable lies. Before we give you our tips on leading and serving, we encourage you to take a moment and think about your own circle of possibility in leadership, and watch the fence turn from metal to a more liquid state.
Once that is done – we find a deep breath with closed eyes helps – let’s read the list together and see the possibilities unfold…
Lead Inside of your Ministry
This topic of leading while serving is a big umbrella. Right now we just want to provide a few reminders and a few avenues of where to go next.
Reminders:
- Allow for differences of opinions; be gracious, and really listen.
- Always put the ministry first. What is best for the ministry?
- Steer people toward the greater goal, the greater good.
- Be open, there may be more than one way to get the job done.
- If it is illegal or immoral, you have to take a stand, in all other things, show love.
- Extend a little grace; you may need some in return!
We don’t know your specific area of need, so the above reminders are more broad. Keep reading to see what area your ministry needs to dive deeper into.
This is a big topic to tackle, so we’ve put some extra resources here for you to decide where to go next.
Other Avenues on Leading in Ministry:
Where do you find is the easiest place to serve in leadership? And where do you feel you struggle the most? Those may be good questions to tackle before deciding where to turn next. Here are our suggestions of great next steps:
- How to Handle Volunteers in Ministry – hiring, motivating, and releasing
- Barriers to Effective Relationships – plus the top 3 ways to overcome them
- A More Excellent Way – an adaptation from Beyond Good Intentions by Edgar Stoesz
- Nine Things We’ve Learned About Churches – the very important lessons we’ve learned about church and ministry work that may help you serve more effectively
- 4 D’s of a Quality Meeting – how to run an effective meeting
“Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”
Matthew 20:26
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