Church leaders can set the stage for

effective teams
by Dr. Glen Martin 04 Mar 2003

In my book "Survival Skills," I suggest seven skills pastors must master on the new millennial
church. In my articles for Church Central, I will cover five of the seven. For more information
on "Survival Skills," contact your local bookstore. This month: setting the stage for teams.

Phil Jackson’s ability as a basketball coach is unparalleled. At the dawn of a new century he
used the age-old concept of teamwork to win yet another NBA championship, this time with
the Los Angeles Lakers. As a coach, Jackson identified the role and responsibilities of each
player. Nearly all of his players made a direct contribution to winning the championship.
Using Jackson’s team model, a leader must first consider the individual strengths and
weakness of the team and its members. What kind of team will be most useful in achieving
the purpose of the organization? Here are seven team models to choose from.

Task Force. A task force is a team designed to complete a particular task or solve a particular
problem, and then disbands. One church in Texas embraced the use of task forces and moved
away from standing committees. A church leader remarked, "It got to the point where the
committees had to meet about nothing, and that’s what we ended up doing -- nothing."

Committees naturally become stagnant when they are given nothing to do. A task force can be
assembled to address specific issues such as a parking problem. When the parking problem
has been resolved, for example, there’s no more need for that task force to meet.

Specialized Team. Some ministry tasks require the expertise of people who are competent in
a certain field. A small Lutheran Church in Ohio found the need for a specialized team to go
beyond the work of a task force. When the church opened an elementary school, a special task
force was assigned to do the planning. But the task force failed to establish plans for the next
level of Christian education. A specialized ministry team composed of professional educators
was then formed.

The specialized team set about to earn accreditation for the school, a specialized and
monumental task that required long-term commitment and buy-in by the team. They revised
the pay scale for teachers and established a plan for their continuing education and ongoing
salary adjustments. The specialized team accomplished much more than the task force, but it
also required a longer time frame of commitment.

Leadership Team. The pastoral staff and the governing board compose the leadership team
in most churches. Leadership teams are, by their very nature, hierarchical because someone
must be at the helm to steer the ship. This team also functions as the command team for the
church, assigning responsibilities to other teams and receiving feedback from them. The
 leadership team uses that interaction to evaluate the ministry of the church and to determine
what improvements are needed to move the church to the next level of ministry.

Mentoring Team. The title sounds formal, but the team assignment is not. Often mentoring
teams simply meet informally once a week to discuss one facet of the ministry. For example,
no formal meeting may be called, but a few workers in the children’s program may get
together for coffee or an informal lunch to discuss the best way to deal with a troubled child.

"Committees naturally For example, Pat Morley’s organization, Man In The Mirror, has
become stagnant when an organizational goal to get men into informal teams like
they are given nothing to those following a catalytic event, so they can grow and learn
do. A task force can be
together. These teams might also be called small groups,
assembled to address
specific issues such as a discipleship groups, or mentoring groups.
parking problem. When
the parking problem has Ad Hoc Team. Ad hoc teams are similar to the task force
been resolved, for team, but they usually have less authority. They are
example, there’s no more investigative teams, assembled to address an immediate issue.
need for that task force to
For example, an ad hoc team might be assembled to review
meet."
sound equipment resources and make recommendations to the
Dr. Glen Martin board of deacons. They are typically composed of people who
have demonstrated knowledge for a particular ministry area.

High-Performance Team. High-performance teams are specialized and spontaneous. A

church in Washington has a high-performance worship team. They meet informally as a
creative team to design the upcoming worship service.

This type of team needs the freedom to create and experiment. The church as a whole was
designed by God to be a high performance team. "God created the church, with its various
parts or gifts, to work together to achieve excellence just as the various parts of the gymnast’s
body do. Paul declares that though we are many parts, we are one body (1 Corinthians 12)."
We are the body of Christ, a high performance team.

Cross-training Team. These teams cover a variety of areas where weaknesses have been
discovered. Cross-training teams are empowered to make decisions "on the fly" where a delay
in the decision-making process would inhibit ministry. They have a firm grasp of the overall
ministry.