Lead Well

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash I recently saw a post on a Facebook group asking how many volunteers they need for 30-40 kids. It was really a question about ratios, which are very important, but having the correct room ratio may not be enough when thinking about the right number of volunteers. I’ve written about this before , but when I first started in kidmin, you could have called my Sunday morning service the David Reneau show. I led worship, told the Bible story, managed check-in and sound, pretty much every element of the service I had a hand in or was running it. I had a few volunteers relegated to crowd control, but not many more because, why? I was doing all of it, why did I need more people to sit with kids and keep behavior under control. I was running the ministry in what is called a maintenance structure. I needed to set up the ministry for growth. If I wanted to take the ministry to the next level, then I needed the structure to support it. One tool you’ll need b

Recently, I was given the opportunity to preach to the adult congregation.  I spoke on the five ways God helps your faith grow and how my church makes them happen. They are: Practical teaching - Hearing the Word and doing the Word are two very different things.  It is essential to our spiritual growth to learn how to apply what we learn about God and His ways to our lives. Private disciplines  - Prayer, studying the Bible, serving, sharing the Gospel.  These are all disciplines that every christian should have in their lives and the more they practice them, they stronger their faith grows. Personal ministry  - Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:2 that we are the Body of Christ.  Everyone has a place to serve in the gifts and abilities that God has given us.  Therefore a follower should be actively serving or looking for a place to serve. Providential relationships  - In each followers faith journey they can point to one person who set them on their current path.  God places people

Last week we talked about the first two ways to become a better leader, develop humility and ask for help. You can read more about that here . Today, we will look at the next two ways to become a better leader. 1. Take Responsibility When I was younger, I hated being wrong. I hated being wrong so much so that I always looked to blame someone else for my shortcomings. This attitude frequently hurt my influence as I would throw those I led under the bus just so that I could look good. Thankfully, I have wise advisors in my life who pointed out my error. I learned that a true sign of a leader is one that’s not afraid to back away from taking responsibility. John Maxwell is known for saying “everything rises and falls on leadership.” Once we take responsibility for our actions and the actions of those we lead, the morale and overall performance of the team will rise. There is always something you could have done differently to make the outcome better. 2. Develop discipli

Last week we asked the question, “What kind of leader are you?” You can read more about that here. Ultimately, we should all work to become better leaders, but how do we do that? Over the next 3 weeks, I will outline six ways we can become better leaders. As we become better leaders, our influence will increase, our organizations will be stronger, and we will be more successful. Develop Humility The first thing we must do to become better leaders is to develop humility. I know; it sounds counter-intuitive. Many of us got into leadership because it makes us feel good. We like the power and the responsibility. I know when I first started to lead, I did it because I thought I was better than everyone else in my group, and they needed my “exalted wisdom and guidance.” As I continued to lead with this higher sense of myself on into the professional world, my senior pastor challenged me. Our church was looking at multi-site, and I was excited for the new position, power, an