Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. . . .  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

In 1990 I began teaching fifth grade at a Baltimore school district’s flagship elementary school. It was designed with spacious classrooms, few walls, and no doors. Learning centers were scattered throughout the instructional area. I was one of a team of five teachers sharing responsibility for the 125 children in that grade level. Mutual respect, cooperation, and trust were high. These factors helped create an environment where we could celebrate the good and share the burden of the difficult.

After four rewarding years, my family and I moved to the other side of Baltimore. Facing a one-hour commute, I accepted a position at a school closer to our new home and church. From the onset, the experience was a total 180-degree turnaround, and definitely not for the better.

I moved from an open classroom format to a traditional one, with one room, a door, and the expectation that I teach all the subjects to the same 35 kids. For the first few weeks that year I enjoyed the ability to close the door during a test or during oral reading. However, the environment began to get stale, leading to student (and teacher) frustration. When a bored student threw a ballpoint pen into the ceiling fan, nearly blinding another student, my new teaching environment felt like a failure.

Through the experience, though, I came to understand something about myself: I am wired for teamwork.

Guess what? I am not alone.

God has wired people for teamwork.

A TEAM ENVIRONMENT

Now I am a pastor. The sad reality is that when I arrive on the scene as the new pastor I know the underlying wish of the church leadership is simply that I fix everything. (After all, isn’t that why we hire in the church?)

That is a lonely place to be in. But it’s not limited to positions of leadership. Every time you find people who feel alone, discouraged, unhappy, or frustrated, they are lacking the fulfillment of one essential human need: a team. People need the support and camaraderie of others.

So how do we build an environment of teamwork? Craig Jutila, founder of Empowering Kids, states in his book, Leadership Essentials for Children’s Ministry, that teamwork requires five things: Cooperation, flexibility, commitment, loyalty, and encouragement.

Cooperation means that you have to work together. Your ministry must function as a co-op, with the idea that everyone has value and is an important part of the whole. Paul’s analogy in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 for the body of Christ uses imagery drawn from a physical body, which of course needs all its parts, whether the eye or the elbow. If there are volunteers just standing around in the back of children’s church sipping coffee, chances are they will not be there very long. Make sure they understand their function, and then let them do it.

Flexibility can be apply to one’s attitude toward the use of abilities, and thinking about the greater good, not just the individual preference. For example, if you hear someone say, “I only work with seniors,” that’s a good indicator that this person may not be a team player. Help an inflexible person be willing to trust and serve where the needs are.

Commitment faces a huge deficit in both the church and society. We have allowed technology and consumerism to infiltrate our hearts to the point that when conflict arises we just dispose of relationships. As a leader, God is calling you to a higher level. Let’s keep our commitments, and then strive to help others do the same. At the same time, it breaks my heart to learn a ministry leader or volunteer wants to quit or not attend worship due to the guilt of walking away from a commitment. We need to create a culture within the church where instead of an atmosphere of fear and silence, we come to each other in truth and say, “I’m hurting” or “I need a break.”

Loyalty does not mean that I am going to agree with everything the team wants to do. Simply put, loyalty is working alongside the rest of the team to complete its goals or tasks, regardless. It means team members hold up others even when they don’t see eye to eye with every detail.

Compromise can be healthy to the team if there is a sense that we all want the best for each other. Some leaders fail to realize that loyalty must be nurtured and seasoned with cooperation and flexibility. The leader sets the tone for this in the model of teamwork that is implemented and encouraged.

Encouragement is the icing on the cake of teamwork. It is vital to finding the sweet part of the project or experience. People who are spiritually gifted with exhortation find it easy to encourage, but every leader and every team member also need to be an encourager, regardless of spiritual gifting. Give team members preferences. Lavish encouragement on them. Find out what team members’ favorite candy bars, restaurants, genre of paperbacks, or favorite foods are and lavish little tokens of encouragement on them.

GROWING YOUR TEAMS

So how do you build these ministry teams? Any volunteer strategy that is worth the paper it is written on must include team development. It is within a team framework that basic human needs—nurture, trust, connection, and nourishment—are met.

Invite volunteers personally. Make it face-to-face, hand-on-shoulder. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide you to these encounters.

Need fulfilled: To feel included and a part of something. To develop a sense of belonging.

Inspire volunteers to take a jump. Encourage them to show up the next weekend and give it a try. Let them come and observe, walk around, and get a feel. Assign no specific responsibility yet. Afterward have them fill out your ministry application and background check forms, and submit references for you to check. The returns on this are much higher if they have already caught your vision.

Need fulfilled: To take a risk, be vulnerable, and learn something about themselves.

Place volunteers on a team. Connect a new volunteer with a seasoned leader. Relationships and synergy grow, and before long they will be doing ministry together. This connection keeps them on board with the vision and mission of children’s ministry.

Need fulfilled: To develop friendship and ministry support.

Challenge volunteers to become team leaders. Give the team leader increasing opportunity to lead and to expand a focused ministry team. The team leader brings to the mix a unique and personal style of leadership that attracts others, who may not have been seen or considered for ministry. Your net gets bigger to catch more volunteers as you expand your leadership team.

Need fulfilled: To invest and to take ownership in the ministry.

Provide planning and support. Meet with your team leaders regularly to maintain a connection. Spend a portion of that time in training and development. It is leaders’ responsibility to help team leaders grow.

Give staff the tools and empowerment that as they grow in training and knowledge, then they can grow the volunteers on their teams. For example, training can be as simple as purchasing a book, reading it together, and then during each meeting spend time discussing the book, chapter by chapter.

Need fulfilled: To grow in leadership and ministry commitment and responsibility.

Andrew Ervin is associate pastor to families at Cape May, New Jersey, Seashore Community Church of the Nazarene. His book Best Practices for Children’s Ministry: Leading from the Heart is available at: nph.com.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.