I love my job! I read emails, texts, and have lobby conversations weekly with people who have great plans or ideas for ministry. I’m a dreamer and future thinker, so these conversations don’t scare me anymore. Common conversations I have is when people come to me wanting to start a new ministry or change our current Restoration Ministry. I used to feel pressured to hear what I considered their “sales pitch”, knowing there is a potential I may have to burst their bubble and say that won’t work in the context of what we are doing here at Real Life Ministries Texas.
I now look forward to hearing from dreamers and helping them navigate what it is they actually want to accomplish and what their next step might be. Often people have grand ideas and aspirations and want us to come alongside them and make their dream happen. I listen to their presentation, stay curious, and ask lots of questions. If their idea is similar to an existing ministry, I try to describe it and have them think through with me how their idea might fit in. For example, if they are passionate about marriage, I encourage them to visit our Re|engage class and I introduce them to one of our leaders. If it is recovery-related, I introduce them to our Recovery Pastor and ask them to visit Re:Generation. If it is an interest in the pro-life movement, I tell them about our partnership with a pregnancy center and encourage them to come to one of the weekly classes we host for pregnant moms or visit the center. Many times, they had no idea our church was doing a similar ministry and serving our church and community. Often, they can use their passion and join what is already going on. I challenge them to consider joining us instead of starting a new program.
I ask them to contact me and schedule a follow-up meeting to tell me how it went after visiting that ministry. This is where I get more intentional. I ask them what it is they are asking of me and/or the church. Are they still wanting to start something new? Sometimes they have big plans, but often they have not really done the research or put in the time to think things through. We chat about why they believe in their ideas and what it will take to possibly make things happen. This is where I might have to get real with them and say their ministry idea might not be something our church is willing to implement. I don’t ever want to give them false hope or lead them into believing we can make it happen if we can’t. But I also want to leave them with hope and help them develop a plan or next step. I give them our “Stay the Course” book and challenge them to consider how their idea aligns with our church. We meet a few more times to discuss the book. Some of the strongest leaders we have are now fully engaged in serving and leading in a ministry started as a meeting with me to suggest we support their ministry idea. I have learned to always look at developing potential and being OK with challenging requests.
The critical component that helps me have these conversations is I know where we are going and the clarity to our own disciple making process here at Real Life Ministries Texas. I can help direct individuals to be part of what we are doing or develop them to lead within our current ministry. Foundationally in a disciple making church we view every disciple of Jesus as a minister, and I love that I get to help develop them and their dreams to advance the Kingdom!
This post originally appeared at: Intentional Alignment – Relational Discipleship Network (rdn.org)