By Stephen Bond
I played water polo in high school. Water polo is a team sport. Each player in the pool has a distinct role, and each one depends on the other if the team is to be successful. On my high school team we had Mike Moore, a scoring machine, “in the hole” on the offensive end of the pool and Guy Antley on the defensive end as our goalie. Both men received All-American awards but both played very different roles on our team. We needed both Mike and Guy (and several more of us non-All-American players) to win. The strongest teams are never one-man shows.
The same is true with the local church. Three of the key metaphors for the church strongly suggest the value of teamwork. Thus, in the body of Christ each member has an important role to fill, in the household of God each participant has something of value to contribute, and every living stone is vital in the spiritual house God is building.
Teamwork in the church clearly is God”s intention. Working together is God”s plan. But how a church chooses to function affects greatly the teamwork it will experience. Effective teams are designed to function like teams. I”ve observed three critical behaviors that are common in churches with effective teamwork.
They Commit to Common Objectives
Some might think a local church”s objective is straightforward. But this is not the case. Every church tends to emphasize different values. Some churches emphasize reaching the lost, others focus on discipleship, and still others concentrate on works of service. Every local church has its own DNA that shapes its personality and determines the God-given calling it will fulfill.
However, a frequent problem is to have multiple competing objectives within one local church. This results in dissipating energy because people within the organization are not moving in the same direction. Instead of working toward a common churchwide objective, each ministry leader may end up either working for his own personal objective or, worse, competing against other leaders with different objectives altogether.
Churches solve this problem by committing to common objectives. As Summit Christian Church has grown larger, the commitment to common objectives has become more important. Such a commitment is also known as ministry alignment. Alignment occurs when everyone on the team agrees to the ministry”s overarching objectives””and then develops subministries in alignment with those objectives.
A valuable way to reinforce the commitment to common objectives is by celebrating wins together. We do this at Summit every week in our staff prayer meeting. We also begin many weekend services by recapping the wins from the previous week. For example, we may celebrate the number of decisions for Christ in the previous weekend”s invitation or the number of baptisms or a life group testimony or a testimony from a serving project. Each time we celebrate these wins, we reemphasize that our church”s three common objectives are: love God, love people, and serve others.
They Set Clear Expectations
Setting clear expectations is a second critical behavior that affects teamwork. This has proven invaluable at Summit. One of the most important expectations is that, since we”re about kingdom business, hard work and internal motivation are expected. The apostle Paul set a high bar for every person in ministry. “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:28, 29).
We also expect excellence. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). Excellence, of course, is a sliding scale depending on the resources and capabilities available. When we met in the YMCA, we used overhead projectors to project lyrics during worship. In that case, excellence meant creating the best overhead transparencies possible.
We are especially passionate about demonstrating excellence with our facility maintenance. Our facilities team is top-notch. Each person understands the landscaping around the church is like a picture frame that speaks volumes about what goes on inside the building. As a result, our facilities team is fastidious to keep our grounds in pristine condition. They pay equal attention to the cleanliness and maintenance inside. Excellence honors God and also speaks to our community that God is not second-rate.
Another important expectation for staff and elders relates to financial stewardship. We expect our leaders to invest 10 percent of their income in Summit”s ministry. Jesus makes it clear “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Investing resources in our church anchors our heart in its ministry. Finances, then, become a key litmus test of a person”s commitment to Summit”s ministry. We let our staff and elders know this expectation ahead of time. We also advise our staff and elders that their giving records are periodically checked for accountability.
Setting clear expectations aids teamwork because everyone knows what is expected. There are no surprises or hidden agendas.
They Care for One Another
If people really matter to us, it will be evident in how we treat one another. This dramatically affects teamwork among a church staff or elder team. When people feel genuinely loved by their teammates, they will make concerted efforts to help the team succeed. For this reason, caring for one another is a third critical behavior that impacts the effectiveness of teamwork in the church.
At Summit, one way we care for one another is by having fun. Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. Unfortunately, Christ followers are known more for their doom and gloom than for their joy and laughter. Summit”s staff and elders are trying to reverse this trend. We laugh together more than any group I”ve ever been part of. Someone on our staff observed that while we take our jobs seriously, we don”t take ourselves seriously. We are not afraid to laugh at our foibles!
Proverbs 17:22 says “a cheerful heart is good medicine”””and it”s especially good medicine for teamwork. I realize that kingdom business deals with sobering eternity-impacting issues. But this doesn”t mean we must wear a frown! Joy comes right on the heels of love in Paul”s ninefold list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I”ve discovered when our team is filled with joy and laughter””when we have fun””we actually accomplish more. Plus, the ride along the way is a whole lot more pleasant.
Summit”s elder team also values the importance of caring for one another. Pastor Larry Osborne notes that one roadblock to unity on church boards is putting business concerns above relational concerns.
We learned this the hard way. The first few years of Summit”s existence the elders met monthly at 6:00 am. But the longer we did this, the more our meetings became all work and no play. After all, who can laugh at 6:00 in the morning?
We now meet once a month on Sunday at 5:00 pm for dinner. We rotate between the various elders” homes, and our wives participate. We begin by sharing a meal as married couples. This provides ample opportunity for laughter and life sharing. After dinner, the elders break off for our meeting, and the wives gather in another room for prayer and more sharing.
Caring community makes a difference in the teamwork for church staff and elders. However, most of us live in an overly busy world filled with many clamoring agendas. This means that caring for one another won”t happen unless we are intentional. It”s worth the effort, though. Taking the time to care for the people we serve alongside not only honors God””it also helps our ministry teams become more effective.
Beyond Words
It is one thing for a group to say they want to be a team, and it”s quite another for the group to actually become a team. To be a team requires behaving in ways that elicit teamwork. This may seem obvious””but teams function like teams. This requires working together. Three critical behaviors will help teams function like teams: committing to common objectives, setting clear expectations, and caring for one another. When ministry teams and elder teams display these behaviors, they set the stage for more effective teamwork.
Stephen Bond serves as senior pastor with Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Nevada.
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