Growing Your Ministry Through…Procedures

It was over a year ago that I posted about having a binder for your ministry. Since many of you are new readers and some may just want a fresh look at the idea, let’s talk about how procedures can help your ministry grow.

Every Ministry Has Procedures

Every ministry, no matter how simple, has procedures. Media ministries have procedures for sound checks, selecting equipment, setup and teardown for satellite/multi-site configurations, and recording/archiving. Ushering and greeting ministries have procedures for parking lot assistance, giving hand outs, ensuring children get to their classroom, and guiding late comers to the right seats without disrupting service. Even the prayer room has procedures and guidelines on how to deal with alter calls.

The Problem is the Consistent Application of Procedures

Not every ministry, however, knows how to explain these procedures. Some, as I’ve alluded to in previous posts, just throw newly recruited volunteers into the wild. Other ministries are new and just jump in, start doing, and keep doing without any thought to the others within the team. The unfortunate side effect of this is low volunteer retention, constantly changing ministry leadership, and frustrated staff.

The Solution is Repeatability Through Documentation

To solve this problem of consistency, ministries need to properly document their procedures and make them available at all times. This means that ministries need to value repeatability over new features or service offerings. You, as a media leader, must ensure that before you go from a one camera to three camera setup, you can consistently execute the one camera setup for your existing and future volunteers. You, as the ushering ministry, need to document how to ensure the different types of visitors get the attention they need before you add a new welcome center or events booth. It also means that your volunteers have access to these procedures at any time by placing them near their work area or in a back office that is accessible before, during, and after service. That way, if someone calls in sick that normally performs the audio archiving, a manual is available for a backup volunteer to do the task. Of course, not all situations are interchangable, but you get the idea.

Here is what this means for you and your church:

1. You value consistent execution of your ministry over every new opportunity that becomes available (discernment)
2. You value defining and documenting procedures for current and new service offerings over short-term outcomes (following-through)
3. You value the quality of execution (or depth) of your offering over the number of offerings (breadth)

Getting Started

1. Identify all of the functional jobs in your ministry
2. Find one or more volunteers that know and/or execute the process often
3. Start documenting! Begin with flow diagrams and text that describe when, what, and how things need to be done. If it is software-related, take screenshots and make notes below it

Start simple, grow your documentation over time, and begin reaping the rewards of defining your procedures!

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