Have you ever felt lonely as a pastor or leader in your church? Have you ever felt overwhelmed—like there was just too much work to do, and that it was all too important to let a single ball drop?
Have you ever felt the weight of everyone’s spiritual journey rests on your shoulders?
It’s a heavy burden to bear.
We place an unbelievable amount of pressure on our pastors. The pressure comes from all sides—from church board members, from staff, from the congregation and, worst of all, from ourselves. We all have high expectations for what a church can do to meet the needs of its people and community.
This has a tendency to leave pastors feeling like they must be spiritual mentors, teachers, organizers, cruise directors and clowns in order to meet each person’s sky-high expectations.
But I have good news for you today, and it’s this: You don’t have to be everything to everyone. You can ask for help. The best part is that you can ask for help from people who aren’t even on your payroll.
And this may be the best thing you’ve ever done for your church body.
Here are three reasons to recruit your congregation:
1. It gives them ownership.
It’s easy to be a critical consumer when you don’t have skin in the game.
Parents have opinions about children’s ministry; singles want something different; college students are running amuck; and nobody seems satisfied.
The way I see it is you have two options here. The first is to continue doing everything yourself, and the second is to invite those who are a part of the community to take ownership of the community with you. I recommend taking the second option. Your congregation is your largest untapped resource.
You lead a church of capable, talented adults, and they clearly have something to offer. You’ll benefit from having new, fresh talent and ideas, and the participants will benefit from being able to contribute.
As an added bonus, people are always less likely to stand in the back and criticize when they’re busy making things happen.
