A week in the life of the Ministry Support Team

The Ministry Support Team work alongside many ministry leaders each week, to help grow effective youth and children’s ministries in every church.

As a regular reader of Serving Ministry, you may know the names behind the articles as the Ministry Support Team, or from events like the SRE Conference, Leaders in Training (LiT) or Square 1. These are a few ways we seek to support local leaders.

The team’s ultimate goal is to work with you in growing effective youth and children’s ministries in every church. Here’s a glimpse into a typical week in the life of the amazing team I serve alongside.

Sunday

While some of us are attending our home church services, Children’s Ministry Advisor Kate Haggar is completing an observation of a Kids Church. This involves a meeting during the week with the children’s minister to discuss how Kate can support them, and a follow-up visit on Sunday giving her a chance to see the ministry in action. This insight helps Kate prepare a training session for the church’s team of leaders in a few weeks’ time.

Each team meeting on Monday is a great opportunity to share good news stories from churches all over Sydney.

Likewise, Youth Ministry Advisor Matt Bartlett is visiting a youth program that meets after a morning church service. His visit is focused on observing a student from Youthworks College who is giving a Bible talk, and Matt and this student will meet afterward to reflect and discuss. This meeting is part of the youth and children’s ministry subjects at Youthworks College, where Matt and the rest of the team lecture and disciple future ministry leaders.

Monday

Paul, our Ministry Coordinator, is currently hard at work getting ready for SRE Conference next year.

The whole Ministry Support Team meets for a ‘five-minute meeting’ (that usually goes for at least half an hour!). This time is always encouraging and valuable, as we collaborate and share stories from the ministries we’ve visited and been involved with in the last week, praying with thanksgiving to God for his work. The Head of Ministry Support, Ed Springer, also meets with Youthworks CEO Craig Roberts and the management team for updates about what’s going on across the entire organisation.

During the day, I meet with Paul, our Ministry Coordinator, to discuss the feedback from our recent Square 1 camp for primary-aged children. Paul also meets with Kate to continue planning the SRE Conference in February, with the program and electives to finalise. In the evening, Ed will meet with the LiT Committee, a committed group of youth ministry leaders from many churches, as they pray and plan for the January camp.

Tuesday

While Paul answers calls and emails in the office about SRE, events and training, the rest of the team head to Youthworks College to teach children’s, youth and family ministry subjects. This week some of us are lecturing on the complexities of intergenerational ministry in a range of parish context, and the other half are facilitating a discussion with the students about the different styles of leadership and how to work effectively on a staff team.

I head home after college to pick up my Scripture bag, on the way to the local primary school to teach SRE. This year I have a Kindy and Year 5 class. It’s a joy to teach these children about Jesus from the Bible and a helpful way to stay ‘hands-on’ as I train others.

Wednesday

One of the ministry leaders I caught up with last week was Matt Keller from St Paul’s, Castle Hill. We had a great conversation about children’s ministry and mission.

Children’s Ministry Advisor, Emma Collett meets with an SRE coordinator. This is the first of several meetings that day; one is with a rector who oversees both the SRE and children’s ministry in his small church and another is with the children’s minister from a large church whose job spans several congregations. I’m in the car with similar visits planned. These meetings are often as diverse as the churches, with some being about future training sessions, and others about pastoral support and prayer as many leaders find it helpful to talk to someone outside their congregation about the challenges of their specific ministry. 

Thursday

Ed has a coaching meeting today, which is a professional development opportunity for ministry leaders, where they meet with a Youthworks Advisor for a 12 months. Meanwhile, Children’s Ministry Advisor Tim Beilharz is working at a café. He’s in the final stages of developing a survey tool that aids ministry staff in accurately assessing the effectiveness of ministry to young people. He will also write an article (like this one!) for our Serving Ministry newsletter that equips thousands of SRE teachers and ministry leaders each month.

Kate (centre) and the latest group of local SRE trainers.

Friday

I’m back on the road again, heading out to a regional Children’s Ministry Network Meeting, who meet once a term for mutual support and prayer. It’s always encouraging to hear the stories of ministry joys and challenges and see leaders share wisdom and resources. Later, I’ll send an email out to another group of leaders to remind them of a Network Breakfast coming up. This larger group will meet on a Saturday morning, giving Children’s Ministers the opportunity to learn from each other as they take turns presenting on ministry ideas, such as effective themes for holiday kids clubs.

Back in the office, Kate is preparing SRE training, as she’ll be running one training session each Saturday afternoon for the next five weeks. She’s interrupted by a phone call from an SRE coordinator who has some questions about enrolment in a local school, which Kate assists with, ensuring the coordinator has the correct information and the resources she needs.

At 5.30 pm, Ed is on his way to visit a Youth Group. It’s his third annual visit and in our Monday meeting the following week he’ll share with the team the joy of seeing how far the group has come.

Sounds like a full week? Indeed! There’s always plenty happening, and plenty of prayer behind the scenes. The team loves the opportunity to serve alongside parish leaders from volunteers, part-timers, lay or ordained ministers and rectors across the Sydney diocese, as we all work together to help young people come to know and love Christ.