The Three ‘C’s’ of Team Leadership

21/09/23

There are many joys in serving the children’s or youth ministry team in a church. Young people get to know us, grow in faith, and there’s the joy of working together with brothers and sisters in Christ.  However, team ministry also has its challenges. You may have felt the stress of covering for people who fail to communicate or don’t show up, the weight of training your leaders, feeling unsupported or undervalued by church leadership, unable to leave because there’s no one else, disempowered when others do things you were asked to do, or the sadness and heaviness of extra work when people leave your team.

There is no question that leadership is service.  Every person faces challenges in ministry, from the new junior leader to the senior minister.  Many challenges are not to do with your competency but a simple lack of clarity around how to be in a team.  I want to outline to you one initial step and three simple values which, if followed, might solve all of the above problems.  If this sounds too good to be true, read on and decide for yourself.

Firstly, Clarify the leadership structure.  Your organisational chart should be as simple as possible.  Every person should know who they are being led by, and who they are leading.  The org chart will look like an inverted tree, with the senior minister at the top, and junior leaders at the bottom.  If you are responsible for more than five people, you may need another leadership layer.  It’s essential to clarify: who do you report to, and who do you lead? 

Now to the three values.  These values are to be owned by every person involved in ministry, regardless of where they sit on the org chart.  They apply equally to the person at the top and the junior leaders at the bottom. 

1.      Care.    

Care for those immediately below you.  This means that every team member will know that their leader cares for them, prays for them and has their back.  The way that care is shown will depend on gender, age and capacity, but it will always involve the leader giving their team members intentional time, thought and prayer.  If time is short, make the most of small moments before or after the ministry.  Catch up online, in person, over a coffee, and ask, “How are you growing?  How are you going?  How did you go (at whatever we talked about last time)?”and  pray together.  Leaders who care for those immediately under them build strong teams who want to stay.  Even those at the bottom of the org chart care for those below them – the children or youth who attend the ministry.  They miss the kids when they don’t turn up.  They are wise in caring for children and youth and observe Safe Ministry protocols.  Every leader should be cared for by the person above them and care for those below.

2.      Communicate. 

A key part of being in a team is communication.  Every person needs to communicate both up and down the chain of command.  Team leaders need to communicate down the chain so that their team members have all the information that they need to do their ministry, and they have it with enough lead time so that they can prepare well.  Equally, team members communicate up the chain, giving feedback when necessary, or giving their leaders as much notice as possible if they can’t attend.  Teams should discuss and agree together which platform their team will use to communicate – whether that is a Whatsapp group, Messenger, email or word of mouth.  Make it clear and understood so there’s no confusion. 

3.      Coach. 

Equip and develop those below you so that they can do their team role well.  Team leaders will coach the junior leaders below them, or make sure that through other training opportunities they are taught the skills they need to fulfil their role requirements with confidence.  Team leaders often have their own expertise to contribute, and can provide invaluable insights, direction, and intentional and regular feedback to develop the competencies in their team members so that leading is not a stress, but a pleasure.  Junior leaders also coach the children or youth how to participate in their group so that everyone’s comfortable and not stressed. When everyone in the team structure coaches those below them, the task of training and equipping is distributed and does not rest on one person’s shoulders.

Clarify the leadership structure.  Care for those below you.  Communicate up and down the chain, and Coach those below you.  This is what being an effective team leader looks like.