5 Benefits of Co-Hosts for Your Announcements
Requires Practice
The only guaranteed way to get better at this part of your service is to practice. When two people make the announcements, it requires them to talk through the elements and practice together, which in turn improves the announcements. This part of the service is about moving people to action and getting them connected. It deserves to be well thought-out and executed effectively!
Increases Diversity
As a church grows, it needs to appeal to a broader community. One way to do this is to have a variety of people on stage at your church. If it’s all “guys” on the stage, you may be unintentionally sending the message to ladies that they are less welcome in your church. If everyone on stage is over 65, you communicate to the next generation that there isn’t room for them. Co-hosting increases the diversity of people on stage. Take this opportunity to appeal to a broad group of people.
Builds Influence
The people who are on stage gain influence in your church. People see them and begin to trust them. Although we don’t want the stage to be a shortcut around the “hand-over-hand” work of building a church, it is a valuable tool for increasing the profile of leaders on your team. Regular hosting helps people to know, like and trust leaders.
Trains Leaders
Constantly training others and releasing ministry to them is central to our role as church leaders. Often, roles like this require “public face time” that we’re hesitant to give away because we’re not sure how to train people. Resist this temptation! Bring another leader on stage to co-host with you and have them start by doing just one part of the announcements. Putting them in front of people will be an adjustment. As hosts get more comfortable, and as you become more confident in their abilities to move people to action, give them more elements of the announcements. As their proficiency grows, you can hand off the responsibility of raising up other co-hosts to them.
