Some key ingredients I see to successful and effective teams are:

1) Total Trust and grace to fail - both upstream and downstream. We need to let the people we work with do what they are most capable of doing, even when it is not the way we would do it. The DNA has te be imparted and ingrained, but true leaders will not remain in environments where they are not trusted and given appropriate freedom both to succeed and fail.

2) Intentional empowerment - equipping and mentoring our team members to grow and prosper in ministry should be our key focus as a team leader. We also need ot constantly communicate their value to our team and our ministry, both privately and publicly. People need to know that they have been empowered by the leader.

3) Courageous comraderie - like two soldiers in a foxhole, incredible bonds and strong morale come from spending time in the trenches together. Great teams also need to have fun together, share life with each other and not always be about the tasks. The relationships should take precedent over the projects, for it is in the motivation to be iwth each other and serve each other that teams create the greatest synergy and produce the most fruitful minsitry.

(by the way: GREAT job Sunday…God’s gonna give you so many crowns for your heart and everything you are doing!)

Since I started building a team I can’t describe the amazing change I have seen in my personal as well as ministry life!

I think it is crucial for teams to do life together and have fun together! Craig thanx for your wisdom!

Will, You raised some good points. Inviting others to do what you can’t do is usually easier than inviting others to do what you do. When one overcomes the obvious hurdles, the results of a strong and unified team are tremendous.

What I mean is this. If you know what you’re not good at, it can be easy to identify the first people you should add to your team. For example, I’m disorganized. On any team I led, the first person I would bring on would be someone who is organized to keep me on track, handle logistics, etc. Of course, if we’re talking about a church context, my first person would have to be a worship leader (perhaps the only thing I’m worse at than organization is music).

I think it becomes more difficult when you have to bring on someone else (or multiple someones) to do the same thing you do. You may teach well, but there comes a point when you can’t handle all of the teaching. You may be excellent at pastoral care, but when you’ve got a church of 2000, you can’t do all of the pastoral care. This is when it’s really hard to let go, when you have to delegate even the things that you do well because the scope of the work is larger than what you can take on yourself.

Praise God His Kingdom can be glorified more now! He has saved me!

And I definitely see the power of an effective team…but I don’t know how to make one. How do you form one if you don’t see the passion in others’ eyes that you see in yourself?

Any advice? I’ll definitely be praying that God gives/raises up people to be on team with me. I want the Kingdom to be as glorified as possible - and to be more effective I see a team is definitely needed.

I love working with a team. I love that we bring something vital to the table that makes the whole so much more vibrant and rich than I could have done alone. I love the community it builds as well, and how it models the Body at work.

I think many people underestimate the power of the relationship aspect of creating in community - it can build faithfulness and loyalty and a feeling of family that is hard to come by when you are simply following orders. Being invested together reaps huge results.

I love creating together.

Dana, I caught your segment on the Internet Campus this weekend. You did awesome! Your family is a HUGE player on this Kingdom team!