Training up leaders and expanding ministry go hand in hand.
Tweet This: Training up leaders and expanding ministry go hand in hand. @leadworship @asworship
If you develop leaders but have no opportunity for them to serve, then what good is it? And if you create ministry opportunities, like planting churches, but have no leaders trained to serve, then you won’t be successful. These two things must move in vision and coordination together.
Church planting is on the forefront of church leaders’ outreach strategies nowadays. This is awesome. Statistics show that church plants overall are more successful at reaching the lost than established churches. Also, a recent SBC survey showed that while established churches are declining in number, church plants are growing.
Tweet This: Church plants overall are more successful at reaching the lost than established churches. @leadworship @asworship
I recently met with a friend who is about to become the worship pastor for a new church plant in our area. He’s a great musician and has played in worship bands for years, but hasn’t had much experience or training to lead worship.He’s been serving in the church that is planting for years.
My question is why hasn’t he been mentored and trained for his new role?
In my experience, much of the training for church planting has focused on the lead pastor, and rightly so. He’s going to carry the weight of the leadership. However, every pastor leading a new ministry would love to have a well-trained and skilled worship leader ministering alongside them. Yet, church plants often end up with volunteer worship leaders trying to figure it out as they go, thus making lots of mistakes that could have been prevented with good mentoring.
Here are a few keys to mentoring leaders and providing them the necessary opportunities to serve:
1. Keep it simple
There’s no reason mentoring has to be complicated. We are not talking about classroom time with lectures. Young leaders simply need to walk alongside more experienced leaders and learn naturally.
Tweet This: Mentoring = Young leaders walking alongside more experienced leaders. @leadworship @asworship
2. Don’t compartmentalize ministry
Your whole life should be about Christ and sharing the Gospel. Young leaders need to see you lead at church, but also at home. A young worship leader can learn more by watching his mentor interact with his family than anything else he taught him.
3. Give up the platform
If you want leaders to learn to lead, you have to give them the opportunity. That means you might have to sit down a week or two each month. This is okay. Don’t be afraid you’re going to lose your job. As a leader, part of your job is to make sure there are others rising up to take your place. Ouch!
Tweet This: If you want leaders to learn to lead, you have to give them the opportunity. @leadworship @asworship
4. Create a culture of critique
Musicians can be touchy. Shocking, right? We all need good consistent feedback on how we can improve. Don’t shy away from giving a good positive critique. It would be a disservice to someone to allow them to make the same mistake over and over.
Tweet This: It’s a disservice to someone to allow them to make the same mistake over and over. @leadworship @asworship
5. Training should be a blend of theology, musicology and leadership
If a young leader doesn’t possess all three of these in some measure they will not succeed. If you don’t feel qualified to train in one of these areas, utilize good books and other leaders to help.
6. Mentoring doesn’t end when someone leaves your church
The cool thing about mentoring is the lifelong relationships it creates. Leaders will always need a trusted ear to bounce ideas off of and someone to lean on when things get tough.
Tweet This: Mentoring doesn’t end when someone leaves your church. @leadworship @asworship