Staying Together Inwardly (#fmfparty)

"You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift." Ephesians 4:4-7 (Message)

In church life, there are times when we need to be reminded that we are all on the same team. We all desire to see Christ glorified. We desire excellence in service. We desire unity within the body. And we desire commitment both to serve within the church and outside of the church.

But somehow, in the busyness of church life, we lose focus of that even though we are still outwardly saying "Yes, this is for God." We lose focus when we encounter opinions or methods different than our own. We lose focus when we compare what we have (or don't have) with others. We lose focus when we give more of ourselves than we have capacity to give. We lose focus when we overthink what was said to us or about us. And we lose focus when we become so busy doing that we find ourselves trusting in the institution of the church rather than in God Himself.

Whenever we lose focus, seeds of disappointment, discouragement, disillusionment, dissension, and/or distance begin to grow that distort our view of our "teammates" (pew mates?). We forget that we are a team as bitterness, distrust, rebellion, or competition weave into our interactions with one another. We unconsciously divide through our attitudes and conversations rather than seek to build up. We isolate and lose sight of the big picture where God has called us to travel on the same road together.

When I read Ephesians 4:4 the other night, "...so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly" jumped out at me. Oh, how we can have the outward part down to a science but be thinking so immature inwardly. This week, may we remember that as the body of Christ, we are all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction and evaluate if our thoughts, attitudes, conversations, and actions (both inwardly and outwardly) are leading us toward the same purpose. It's breathtaking to think of the massive Kingdom impact that our churches could have on our world if we intentionally sought to work together instead of against each other in all that we do.

*Five Minute Friday (#FMFparty) gives writers a word prompt. We are encouraged to write whatever comes to mind about that word in just five minutes.  No editing, no perfection, only writing from the heart.  To find out more, visit http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/.  This week's word is "SAME".

Creating a Leadership Team – Part II

During our first leadership team meeting, we covered the expectations of our leadership team.  The eight expectations of the leadership team were to:

• Support (myMISSION PIEDMONT/WMU, each other)
• Assist (carry out events, do whatever necessary to make mMP work)
• Promote (share with church/friends, post flyers, internet, etc.)
• Attend (meetings and events--including set-up/clean-up)
• Plan (contribute, create, prepare, etc.)
• Pray (that's self-explanatory)
• Share (opinions, feedback, prayer requests, etc.)
• Grow (as a leader, as a team and as a Christian)

Looking back, it never crossed my mind that this might be too much to expect from a team.  I saw the potential in these young women and believed so much in what God called us to do that anything less wouldn't get us where God wanted us to go.  However, this might not be the right approach for your group!  Pray about it and God will show you what is and isn't realistic to expect from your team.

For us, high commitment was foundational for those early days and it's something that my team is capable of.  Somewhere along the line, there was a transition from high-commitment simply because it was part of being on the team to high-commitment because they saw God working through them and through myMISSION.  I'm so thankful for our team and that they saw the vision.  It truly was God that put our team together because He allowed them to see what I couldn't express at that time and gave them the gumption to stick with it.  Looking back, that really was a lot to ask of them especially when I didn't even know them (what is it they say? Hindsight is 20/20?).

At the first myMISSION PIEDMONT leadership team meeting, the team filled out a “Leadership Team Profile” which asked for their basic contact info, birthday info, some fun facts about them (gift bag ideas for later use), and then asked them to answer the following questions:

• What is your spiritual gift?  (Leave blank if unsure.) 
• What special skills or talents do you bring with you to myMISSION PIEDMONT? 
• What are your ministry passions and/or favorite ways to share God’s love with others?
• What is something you are interested in learning or developing through this leadership team experience (can be something personal, leadership, church, WMU related, etc.)?
• Are you willing to make a commitment to being on the leadership team, praying for myMISSION PIEDMONT, assisting as you can and doing your best to attend all leadership team meetings and training sessions throughout the year?
• What are the best days/times for you to meet?

Every myMISSION group is going to have its own dynamic.  For some, a leadership team might not be necessary.  For others, a leadership team would be helpful so all the organization and planning doesn’t rest on your shoulders.  For us, it was about involving other young women because I won’t be in my 30s forever and saw the need to bring younger women along so they can keep WMU and myMISSION going long after my 35th birthday.  I wanted to give them a chance to experiment with new things, a chance to learn through practical experience and a chance to see where God can take us whenever we are open to Him.  Besides, it's way more fun doing myMISSION as team than alone!  These are friendships that will last a lifetime!

For more on the myMISSION PIEDMONT leadership team, read “MoreThan a Leadership Team”.

Creating a Leadership Team – Part I

Pulling together the right leadership team is one of the hardest things you will do with your myMISSION group.  As in anything, it requires a lot of prayer, time and patience. 

It also requires following God's promptings even when it might not make sense.  There were moments when I felt God put this team together more for my benefit than theirs.  The underlying dynamics have been instrumental in teaching me how to let go of control (is it preference or procedure and 99.9% of the time, it's preference...this is still a lesson in progress). 

Like any team, our team is made up of individuals who bring their own personalities, talents, skills, insights, opinions, emotions, leadership styles and leadership maturity to the table.  This make us a well-rounded team as we see things from different angles and bring our uniqueness to the table.  Through expressing their opinions and sometimes challenging my ideas, the team has kept me from jumping into things and/or slowing the down the pace in order to wait and see how things play out.  I’m very thankful that they feel comfortable enough to speak up and play an active role in myMISSION PIEDMONT. 

When we first started myMISSION in May 2011, the leadership team looked different than it did two months later in July 2011.  When I first started calling young women in our Association, I had a vision, a bare-bones structure to present to these women and this hope that they would catch the vision and be willing to partner with God and our Association on this journey.  It was important to me to leave the details "bare-bones" as this wasn't "my" group...it was for the young women in our Association and it was vital to give them the opportunity to make it theirs and give them ownership of myMISSION. 

As I called many young women, some were ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work that day, others wanted time to pray over it and others weren't interested in leading but were interested in participating once the group was formed.  There was a 4-6 week gap between these calls and our first leadership team meeting.  So, by the time we had our first leadership team meeting, God pared down the list of names even more.  Some young women didn't return calls/multiple voice mails and emails.  Others couldn't coordinate their calendars and that spoke volumes as far as their availability to be on the team as I knew high-commitment would be vital to getting myMISSION PIEDMONT off the ground. 

My philosophy has always been that if someone sees the value in something and really wants it, they will make the time for it, and myMISSION PIEDMONT was no different.  Sometimes though, it takes trial and error to put together the right team.  Yet, I’ve had to back off of my "philosophy" a little as I realized that clearly communicating your vision is a "must" for any leader.  That vision and passion for what God is doing and wants to do is what initially captures people and draws them in especially when you don't have a personal relationship with them beforehand.