Last month we described and indicated the benefits of creating come and go structures as part of your church or ministry team. Now I will explore benefits and examples of come and go structures in and through deacon ministry.
Some Guiding Principles for Come and Go Structures
• We are serving in a transitional age. The age in which we are living is transitional at best. There are church culture leaders with a particular set of values, then there are church leaders and others who were born in a different age and they have different value systems, but as authentic thirst for God.
• Balance is the issue today. Learning to create equal amounts of opportunity and programming for church culture people as you do for those from another value system. Values here has little to do with Biblical values as much as they do with personal preference values. The reality is we like and respond differently.
• Creating non-threatening comfortable entry points is essential today if a church is going to minister effectively to a variety of persons. Intentionally designing as many go structures as we have ‘come structures’ is critical, but a challenge for many church. We like ‘the yall come’ mentality of the church culture. However the culture of today is more responsive when we ‘go’ and meet on their turf.
• Come and Go structures are equal in value and need. Outgrowing an ingrown church is tough at best, but generating ‘come and go structures’ helps make the shift. It’s a both/and situation and many have made it an either/or situation for them or their church.
Benefits of Creating Come and Go Structures
• Empowerment of the Body of Christ to live and minster out of their passion and calling
• Caring for those inside and outside the membership and faith community
• Helps keep church focused on mission rather than maintenance
• Creates atmosphere of excitement and energy as the new is birthed
• Engages and penetrates the culture with the message of hope, healing and Christian witness
Examples of Come and Go Structures in Deacon Ministry
- What if deacons created ministry teams for caring for those who ‘come’ AND ministry teams for those who “GO”? For instance, who ministers to all those who cannot come to church because they are working in medical, emergency, food services? What would a GO structure look like for them?
- What is a GO structure for those unwed mothers or single parent families who do not have the resource, energy or opportunity to come to our traditional church services? What if there were weekday opportunities and child care services to give the parent a respite? What would it look like?
- Links to explore:
Training Without Travel Opportunities in June and July August:
• FREE Webinars for NC Baptists - $15/session for persons outside NC Baptist life and teleclasses –(Space is limited – register early) Topics include:
o Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60
o Are you a Spiritual Traveler?
o Building Effective Deacon Ministry Teams
Register for these online at http://deaconministry.ncbaptist.org
• Podcasts on leadership topics including: Gift Based Team Ministry; The Triangle of Ministry; Creating Parallel Structures and more go to www.transformingsolutions.org to download free podcasts.
©Eddie Hammett, www.transformingsolutions.org and www.ncbaptist.org
