There is no doubt if you are a ministry leader longer than five minutes, you find out you are one who wears many hats. Recently, I spoke with a new leader in Virginia who has come from 15 years in the education world. He remarked how he has a lot of background with leading kids and presenting great lessons, but he is swimming in the deep end of being a project manager of all things kids ministry.

It’s true. A ministry leader (no matter what size church) manages many fronts of ministry. There’s so much to consider. Volunteers, parents, staff, kids, security, follow up, and first time experiences just to name a few. After thinking through our conversation, I made myself a list of helpful things to remember.

3 Things children’s ministry leaders—aka, project managers—need to know:

• There are things you are great at. And because we are friends, I need you to know there are things you are not so great at. Smart leaders know to get help from others who have strengths we don’t possess. Start looking now. Help your weak side. Who is on your team that does a great job of what you struggle with doing? You need input from other vantage points. All of us together make a better team, and in turn what we help lead wins too.
• Don’t forget the why. Why do you want a family to have a great experience at church? Why do you want your ministry to be safe? Why do you plan family events? The why is the Good News. Lose site of the why and you will lose site of the what. Don’t lose sight of the joy in why you do what you do. That joy is fuel for making changes and maintaining a great ministry culture.
• How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Keep working on the areas you are responsible for. Get input. You never arrive at a point and stop looking to improve. Time moves. Culture shifts. Things like casting vision happen much more than one time a year. Great ministry teams do this over and over in many creative ways a bite at a time. People are invited to volunteer much more than once a year. You offer small celebrations of your volunteers and what God is doing through them every moment you can.

A new year brings challenges and great opportunity to engage in ministry to kids and families in so many ways. Let’s decide now to be the best project manager you can be as you lead ministry.

Read more on this topic:

https://orangeblogs.org/orangeleaders/2017/02/08/delegation-the-secret-sauce-to-effective-leadership/