Leading the Church

Read 1 Corinthians 12:7; 12:11; 29-31; 1 Peter 4:10

This section is primarily for the Church leadership and the Mentor Groups.

The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts is to enable us as a community of Believers to better serve one another and our community. They will bring blessings and growth potential for both the ones practicing and the ones receiving the Gifts. They are never for power, for political sake or control, never for manipulation or gossip. Never meant for pride or showmanship, they are to impact your church and community to glorify Christ as Lord!

After the motivational pattern and abilities have been identified in the previous sections now as a leadership you can start to put it all together and organize your people into their roles for His service!

"Why are you doing church? What is your call? Why are you there?" (For more information on this subject, get "Preparing the Pastor and Church Leadership to Grow!" from "Into Thy Word Ministries"). How do I organize the people to fulfill the call that Christ gave? The best way is by determining abilities and resources and matching them to the needs of the church and community. Then, get to it! This is using Spiritual gifts, which is very Biblical for each Denomination and church that claims Jesus as Lord!

1. Make sure you have started a Mentor Program from section four!

2. Focus efforts according to Gifts. People work and function best doing what they are called to and gifted in doing. So, if someone has the Gifts of Helps, instruct and encourage them to be deacons or caregivers. The key is to identify their Gifts, instruct them to use them, and place them where they can be exercised.

3. Encourage those in leadership, the congregation, and yourself to spend at least sixty percent of the time spent in service, in the areas of your Gift(s)!

4. Develop a team approach to ministry. Have people with the same Gifts work together. Those with the Gifts of Helps could work together in care giving! This will complement, add mentorship, and fuel the ministry!

5. Group together those whose strengths and gifts complement each other. Do this for yourself, too. This will pair a person who has a lot of experience with someone who is just learning. Also, group people together who are strong in their faith with people who are not. This will also help develop mentoring and discipleship.

6. Develop job descriptions for each area of service--Prayer, Program Ministry gift needs, Worship, Care Giving, Teachers, etc.--so people will know what to expect and will have a guide they can work with later. Be flexible, as it will change and develop as the abilities, time, and needs of the people change and develop.

7. Delegate appropriate responsibilities. The description should name the position, the basic responsibilities or mission theme, the supervisor's name, the Gifts and skills that are suggested, the time commitment, and the list of duties.

8. Develop ministry assistants. For every leader in the church you should have an assistant. A small group leader will have an associate leader, a Sunday School teacher will have an assistant, and the deacon will have an assistant, and so forth. As you grow, the assistant will be trained and can break off into the new leadership position or take over for the current one to take a break. Qualified people will be on standby who are already functioning and learning in that position. When they break off as growth comes, they will get an assistant, and so forth. This will solve many of the no-training and empty positions in the church.

9. Make sure every leader has a prayer partner(s), someone to pray for them on a daily basis and who will keep a confidence. (See our websites Prayer channel for more ideas.)

What has God called you to do? A Spiritual Gift Evaluation.

This Primer will help determine human resources and their Gifts, so that they can be allocated to the appropriate team. After your church members have identified their Spiritual Gifts, use this guide to help your leadership team and then your congregation to see the role they would best fit in the church. Use this for yourself, pastors, leaders, and the congregation. Make sure that before you approach your congregation, you effectively teach them the Biblical precepts of Spiritual Gifts. (See our Online Bible Studies in Romans 12 for sermon and teaching ideas, and notes!)

1.List your top three Spiritual Gifts (usually there is one main Gift and one or more that are significant).

2.List the three or four ministry positions that you enjoy most, and feel most comfortable and effective in (such as discipling, leadership, teaching, evangelism, administration, etc.).

3.Decide which ministry team you would best fit and be the most effective in.

4.After participating in various ministries in the church, decide which one(s) appealed to you the most, and in which ones you could see yourself involved.

5.Decide which ministries of the church have seen successful because of your contribution.

8.With your Spiritual Gifts and ministry enjoyments in mind, along with input from others, describe what you believe God has called you to do.

9.When can you be available for such a service?

10. What areas of training do you feel you need most?

11. What can the church leadership do to further equip you to be a better servant for the Lord?

12. What do you think the church leadership needs to be doing? Do not be critical, rather, helpful--with Christ-like character!

13. What do you think the biggest needs in the church are?

14. What do you think the biggest needs in the community are?

15. How long a commitment will you be able to make to serve in the church in your gifting category?

16. Are you willing to be instructed, then instruct and mentor someone else?

17. How can you bring yourself, and others in the church, deeper into the heart of God, to worship and glorify Him?

18. How much time has been spent in prayer during the above process?

The church leadership can take these completed forms, compile them in the ministry categories, institute leadership and training, and unleash the laity to do the work they are all called to do!

You can make a list of the number of people involved in each ministry team, how many people are needed, what training has been done and what training needs have yet to be accomplished.

This list is by no means definitive, nor dogmatic; it is just a guide to point you in the right direction. The Gifts for the job may vary due to experience and education.

1. Teaching and Discipleship roles: The main gifts needed for Sunday School Teachers, Bible Study Leaders, and Small Group Leaders are teaching and/or knowledge.

a. Sunday School Superintendent: teaching, administration, leadership

b. Small Group Leaders: hospitality and/or pastor, teacher

c. Children's Sunday School Teachers can have a wider range of Gifts, when they have a love for children, and patience.

2. Evangelism: the main Gifts needed are those of evangelist, missions, and exhortation. (The Gift of evangelist usually appears in combinations with other Gifts) Here are sub-teams that can go under the main team of Evangelism, that other Gifts can participate in also:

a. Visitation: mercy and administration

b. Shut ins: pastor, mercy/helps

c. Personal witnessing/ door to door: everyone should try this often, but the main gift is that of evangelist.

d. Outreach: mercy, service, hospitality, helps

e. Team leaders can have the gifts of leadership and/or administration

3. Elders: Leadership, pastor, exhortation, administration; and also wisdom and faith. If there is to be an elder from each ministry team, the representative should have these Gifts, too.

4. Deacons: helps, service, mercy

5. Missions: evangelist, missions, wisdom, service.

6. Prayer: intercession, everyone.

7. Youth and children's Ministry: teacher, exhortation, pastor, hospitality, leadership.

8. Counselor: counseling, exhortation, wisdom, intercession.

9. Committee leader: administration, leadership, and gifting in the area of the committee.

10. Treasurer / Finance: administration, wisdom, learned knowledge in finance.

11. Usher: hospitality and service.

12. Nursery Worker: service, mercy, helps.

13. Church Secretary: helps, administration.

For effective teamwork, these traits are necessary. They are not necessarily Spiritual Gifts, but they can be learned, and developed. Character and empowerment from the Fruit of the Spirit is essential. Also, honesty, the enjoyment of working with people, knowledge, and the skills necessary in the area of service--or the willingness to learn them--will be a key. Remember, people learn best when they can see a proper model, not just told how. In other words, how you live is as important, if not more important, than what you say!

Remember, this is merely a guide. People with other Gifts can serve in positions temporarily out of their Gift range, or perhaps to develop and strengthen a weaker Gift that may not register on a Gifts inventory. For example, almost any Gift can usher, but usually the person with the Gift of Hospitality will enjoy it and do it better. Anyone can research and prepare a sermon, but the person with the Gift of Teaching will enjoy it and be able to do it better.