Delegation vs. Dumping in Student Ministry

Have you ever been asked to do something without understanding how or why it was important? Have you ever ran out of help and frantically ran around looking for the nearest person to fill a spot?

I think for leaders we have all faced this situation. It happens. We need help in many areas of student ministry (small group leader, co-leaders, host team, check-in, café, special events and so on). My heart is to help leaders develop their full potential in what God has called them to become. In student ministry, it is amazing to see a leader disciple a student and come back to me with tears in their eyes and heart bursting for God's glory being shown in their lives. It pumps me up every time.

On the flip side, I've had conversations with leaders (in my past 8 years of ministry) where they felt inadequate and overwhelmed.

At times I delegated and other times I dumped.

Let's define it:   Delegation: Empowering people to fulfill their passion in the ministry with coaching, teamwork and encouragement. Delegation builds a team of leaders who are owners of the ministry.

  Dumping:  Pouring tasks upon people without vision, direction or encouragement. Dumping breeds the pied-piper student ministry where there is only one or two experts and people feel useless and eventually quit serving.

Our student ministry staff had a meeting today and went over the process of delegating vs. dumping.

We shared the implications of delegation vs. dumping:

 We try to follow  3 main steps of delegation:

  1. Watch me do it. Give the leader a chance to watch you practically show them how by shadowing you. Help them understand the vision of why they are a small group volunteer. Help them see the 30,000 foot view. They have an impact on this generation! People are hungry to see how we lead, so give them opportunities to learn.

 2. Now I'll watch you do it. Give them the opportunity to lead the small group session or share their story. Let them know they are capable and encourage them along the way. Ask questions that lead the students to see this person as a leader ("John, what are your thoughts on it?").  Practically give them small steps to grow as a leader. Encourage them and ask questions. One of the best questions to ask is, "how can I help you?"

3. Now you do it. Give away the ministry! Always be there to coach leaders and redirect if needed. It is a hard process to give ownership to others. Giving away ministry helps leaders develop the ministry more than we ever could have imagined.

Dumping is easier but in the long run you spend more time cleaning it up. Dumping = addition.

Delegation empowers people to become leaders. Delegation = multiplication. Delegating helps people find their sweet spot. As leaders our main job is to equip people to become all that God wants them to become!

Dumping creates youth chaperones. Delegation creates youth ministers.

 ^"Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ." Ephesians 4:12-13

Join the conversation. What do you think about delegation or dumping? 

Replace Yourself

#3: replace yourself. Student pastors main role is to equip. The key is get out the spotlight all the time. The tendency I had in the beginning is to do everything! I wanted to do it my way, in my time and with my hopeful outcome. What I quickly realized is that I fell on my face in many areas. I would miss basic details. I would be running around trying to make sure everything was "perfect" before the service. I learned to plug people in because I missed the importance of being prepared beforehand so I could focus upon relationships. My desire to have a "top-notch" ministry revealed my pride and that I needed to learn to give away the ministry. Ministry is about pouring into other people and getting out of the spotlight. I know the tendency is to do it the "right way" and what this usually means is to only let a select few touch any part of the ministry. Student ministry is messy. Every leader and church has flaws, struggles and imperfections. If we really think that we have it all together in all areas, we will fail miserably. Once people were plugged into the roles that God created them for, the ministry  grew. In student ministry, we have to learn to not make it about our personality or our personal preferences. It is all about making much of Jesus and pointing all of the praise to Him!

Replacing yourself sounds great, but how do you do it?

• Stop dumping responsibility on people. It is easy to tell someone to do something. Dumping can leave people discouraged because they have no idea how to do it. Dumping is lazy and brash. Dumping bombards people. It creates a lack of communication that burns people out.
• Learn to delegate in a way that empowers them and does not bombard them. Give them insight on how to do the task with follow-up encouragement. Delegation includes knowing how to give direction to people so they can succeed. It creates a feeling of ownership because each person feels that they are making an investment into the ministry.

Ways to replace yourself: 

• Student-led band: Train up students to plan songs that go along with the series. It takes a lot of time and effort, but the reward is an avenue for students to grow in ministry. We have two student bands right now because students are plugging into a place of ministry.
• Prayer team: We pray thirty minutes before the weekly service. It is great hearing students pray for God's spirit to move and change lives.
• Videos/Games: Include leaders and students to come up with ideas to create a welcoming environment. (We do things like "Me-Tube" or "Room Raiders" as a fun way to get to know students and highlight them as part of the icebreakers during the service).
• Welcome team: Include parents and students in creating a welcoming environment to greet and encourage everyone who attends.
• Tech team: Equip students how to run the computers, sound board, and lighting.
• Teaching: Allow others to teach during the weekly gathering of students. It is good to let other leaders share their heart with all of the students. Include students to bring the Word! This past summer, three high school guys shared the message on Wednesday nights!

My goal is to only be up front when I bring the message. The goal is to give away the ministry so that we are raising up leaders who lead in all aspects of the ministry.

Replace yourself. Because it is not about us anyway.

What Every Leader Needs #6: Time Management

*A blog series on what every leader needs to be effective in serving Christ.* Time is passing away every second of every day. The reality is that leaders are to make the most of the time that God has provided. One of the most important principles of leadership is to excel in time management. What is most important? One of the ways I prioritize my time every week through writing down important goals to accomplish. It is important to begin this way because if a leader does not prioritize their time, someone else will do it for them. I have learned that unless I have a goal in mind, it is easy to waste time on projects and plans and end up stressing due to last-minute decisions. Let's be honest. We all have the same amount of time (7 days, 24 hours, 60 minutes). One of the best ways to find out how you are using your time is to evaluate it. I have had to do this during my seminary class and at my ministry job. It is a hard discipline but it will quickly reveal where all of the time is being spent. We have to be willing to remove whatever time-wasting actions. The personal life of a leader is more important than the public ministry due to the fact that character and health is developed in small decisions on a daily basis. Restoring margin to a busy and overloaded life begins with an honest assessment of priorities and a clear decision to make changes to have a clear vision for health and strong leadership.

I have learned to say “no” to good things in order to be able to lead great things. Through my ministry I have learned to delegate responsibilities in order to accomplish a goal faster and more effectively. When a leader rallies the people behind the vision, it becomes shared responsibility and takes less time to accomplish. The goal is to balance time between marriage, ministry, relationships and health. Once time has passed it cannot be refunded, we need to make the most of the time we are given by God.

Effective leaders do not allow the culture to dictate decisions. Find the time wasting decisions and cut it out. Replace it with a goal driven approach so that we manage time instead of letting it manage us! The main goal is to use handle time as precious because eternity is at stake!