We can all probably tell the story of someone in leadership who has burnt out.

Maybe that story is about you.

If you’ve seen the signs of burnout, it’s not pretty.  A leader that is losing passion for what once drove them, withdrawing from the people they once enjoyed being around, and becoming increasingly cynical (there is some pretty dark humour coming from leaders on the decline) are just a few of the telltale marks.

Some leaders burn out and leave their profession, while others choose to grind it out until retirement.  We’ve all seen that elementary school teacher who seems to genuinely dislike children, that manager who can’t say anything good about the company that employs him, or even the pastor who has shifted into maintenance mode.

You might think ministry is one place where burnout would happen less frequently – the world’s greatest mission surrounded by a people defined by love, after all – but experience, and stats tell us otherwise (e.g. many church leaders don’t last beyond the 3-6 year mark).

Why does this happen?

This happens for many reasons, but in this series, I want to focus on one that doesn’t seem to get as much airtime.

Some of the factors at play certainly are spiritual, relational, emotional, or even political, but what if the underlying problem is structural?  What if it’s a systems issue?

What if church leaders are burning out not because they are unhealthy or ineffective, but because they are functioning in ministries that are unsustainable? Share on X

If you read my last article on the four ways of viewing organizations, this is the “structural framework” and it is the one that I believe church leaders struggle with most.

 

The Dance Floor

Mark DeVries shares the analogy of a dance floor to illustrate the importance of structure. 

He tells the story of a gifted dancer whose performance is cut short when her foot breaks through the rotting wood of an old floor.  Rather than addressing the issue and repairing the floor, the performance continues and the audience simply waits in nervous anticipation for the next dancer to fall.

Similarly, in ministry we can get so focused on the performance – engaging programming, facilities, visuals, etc. – that we never address the broken foundation.  Ministry leader after ministry leaders fails, gets hurt, or burns out and we simply continue on with the performance of programming, hoping the next leader will fare better.

When we don’t pay attention to the dance floor, it becomes tempting to simply blame the dancer.  “There must be something wrong with them.” 

            They should see a counselor.

            They just don’t have enough experience.

            They should take a spiritual retreat.

            Maybe they need a sabbatical.

            Maybe they don’t read their Bible enough…

While our efforts to care for the individual are well-intentioned, if a leader takes a holiday or a sabbatical but returns to the exact same environment that they left, we are only delaying the inevitable.

Maybe the issue isn’t the leader.

When we focus on building a stronger dance floor, we stop blaming the dancer for their broken ankle and we start creating environments in which people can both perform with excellence and remain healthy.

If you want to read the original dance floor analogy in Mark’s own words, head over here.

 

Building a dance floor

Two areas that need our attention in this building effort have already been mentioned – systems and structures.  We’re talking about the unglamorous, behind-the-scenes stuff that actually makes ministries work. 

We’ll identify some key ministry systems in this article while tackling the structure issue in Part II.

 

The Machines of Ministry

Let’s shift away from the analogy of a dance floor for this part. 

DeVries uses the term “machines” when he speaks of systems.  I like that, so I’m borrowing it.  A machine is comprised of multiple components and moving parts and is designed to produce consistent and reliable results.

Now, any machine that is comprised of people will be a lot messier in real life than on paper, but I believe we can take a lot more guesswork out of ministry than we think.

Here are six of, what I believe to be, the core machines that need to be built in NextGen ministry:

 

The Recruitment Machine

Talk to any ministry leader and 9 times out of 10, their most pressing problem is not finding enough volunteers.  The bigger the ministry gets, the more difficult this becomes, and the more sophisticated our system needs to become.  A really simple process works when you only need 5 volunteers but will be totally overwhelming to use if you need 100 of them or 1000 of them.

Here are just a few questions you can ask yourself to begin putting together the components of your “machine,” regardless of the size of your ministry:

 

      Who are the recruiters? 

If you only need 5 volunteers, you’re just going to go out and find them yourself.  As you grow, it will become essential that you empower others to become recruiters.  They have different social circles than you and will tap into groups of people that you don’t even know about. 

 

      What type of volunteer do you need?

Let’s not have a vague notion of how many leaders we need or which positions need to be filled.  First, create an organizational chart that identifies all your necessary positions and write a brief job description for each of them.  Then, identify the type of leader that will do really well in that role (someone who “loves God and loves people” is not specific enough), and have a way to discern whether or not a potential volunteer is a good fit (e.g. application forms, interviews, etc.).

Give as much clarity as possible on the role and on the ministry.  People do not naturally move towards confusion.

 

      How will someone know about the role?

What are the best ways in your context to raise awareness of the ministry and help people catch the vision behind what you’re doing?  What platforms will you use to share stories and pique people’s interests?  What are the next steps a person can take if they’re interested but want to learn more?  Can they shadow an existing leader, hang out in your ministry environment, or sit in on a team meeting before they sign on the dotted line?

 

      How will you work with other ministries on this?

Never compete with other ministry areas for volunteers.  The best recruitment system will not just be contained to your ministry area but will be a centralized, easy-to-understand process for anyone who is looking to serve on a team in your church.  If every area has their own system, serving at your church becomes confusing.  Remember:  People move towards clarity and simplicity, not confusion and complexity.

 

The Onboarding Machine

This piece gets neglected more often than other ministry systems, in my opinion.  Recruitment takes so much time and energy that when we finally do find the right person for the role, we’re exhausted so we just toss them into the deep end so we can move on to the next thing.

However, if our goal is to not only recruit volunteers but also retain them, we’ll look very carefully at their first steps.  It’s very difficult to change someone’s first impression, so make sure your volunteers form the best one possible.

When building this machine, here are two points to consider:

Answer their questions.  Not just the ones they’re actually verbalizing, but all the unspoken ones as well.  For starters, I believe every new leader is asking these three questions:

Where do I fit? Consider the social and relational dynamics here.  You want them to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance as quickly as possible.

What should I be doing?  Nobody wants to walk into a group of middle schoolers without a clue of what to do.  Do whatever needs to be done to give your volunteers a confident start.  Orientations, meetings, emails, coaching, support, etc – over-communicate at this stage.

Why should I care?  Don’t just give them details, help them catch the vision.  Connect the dots between their role and the bigger strategy.

Identify the “firsts.”  A new volunteer is doing everything for the first time, and each of those moments is an opportunity for us to support them, train them, and set them up for success.  So, make a list of all the “firsts” that your volunteers will experience – first time interacting with kids, first time meeting their team, first time accessing the curriculum, first time contacting parents, first small group meeting, etc.

Your volunteers will only experience their first year once. If you have an intentional strategy for “year one,” you’ll make it more likely that there will be a year two. Share on X

 

The Leader Development Machine

After we’ve recruited and oriented our volunteers, we can finally just leave them alone, right?  Of course not, but it’s tempting. There are so many things that need to be done in ministry, especially in our current event-based model with multiple weekly deadlines, that we often resort to spending all of our time on the urgent matters and fail to prioritize the most important ones.

Developing our leaders rarely comes with an urgent deadline, but it is one of the few things we can do that has the most potential to move the needle forward on our mission. 

How will you help your leaders continue to grow both in their role, but also personally and spiritually?  How will the quality of other areas of their life improve because they’re on your team? 

What if a volunteer became a better parent or a more valuable employee because they serve in your church? 

A mark of a good development system is that it is not just helping them get better in their specific role but is developing them as a person for life. 

Your volunteer culture will begin to thrive when your focus is on what you want for them, rather than just what you need from them. Share on X

So, when you’re creating your ministry strategy and planning out your annual calendar, make sure you’re not simply planning out event details and budget implications, but also creating an intentional plan for how your leaders will grow and be better prepared for ministry and life.

Check out part II of this series to see how your ministry structure and leadership development plan go hand-in-hand.

 

The Planning Machine

Chris McChesney and the guys responsible for The 4 Disciplines of Execution (one of my top ten books of 2018), state that about 80% of a person’s job is consumed with the whirlwind of urgent day-to-day tasks, and about 20% is left over to focus on long-term, big picture-type stuff.

When I ask ministry leaders how much of their time is spent in the whirlwind, the answer is usually somewhere around 105%. 

Some of this is because the ministry systems above haven’t been created or aren’t running well, and some of it is just because there is so much urgent that typically happens in ministry.

Regardless of the reason, I believe this disproportionate focus on the whirlwind of urgent tasks is a big reason why ministries get stuck and leaders eventually burn out. 

No amount of conferences, books, or consultants will help you improve ministry if you can’t get a handle on your time and carve out space in your calendar for what’s important.  Everything I’m talking about here with ministry systems and structures lives in that 20%; if you don’t have that 20%, none of this will be implemented.

The solution?  Planning.

Yes, simple, boring planning.  The only way that non-urgent, yet highly important work gets on our calendars is if we put it there in advance.  If you want to have 20% of your time available for things like strategy, developing leaders, and building systems, you have to start adding appointments to your calendar and determining when that 20% will happen.

Nobody naturally drifts towards intentionality. You have to make a plan. Share on X

To start with, back up even further and learn how to plan to plan.  You have to make an appointment on your calendar just to have the time to actually plan out the rest of your calendar.

For me, my planning rhythm looks like 5-10 min every day, 30-60 min every week, 1-2 hours every month, and 2-3 days every year. 

Figure out a rhythm and get out of the whirlwind.

 

The Communication Machine

Leadership is communication.  There is no way around this; the people you lead need to hear from you.

There are two simple components of a communication machine:

            Systems that allow you to communicate with others.

            Systems that allow others to communicate with you.

One of the simplest ways to make someone feel valued is by making sure they’re informed.  A volunteer or parent that is consistently out of the loop and not knowing what’s going on will have a hard time believing that you think their role is important. 

Of course, simple information is only the beginning.  You also want to regularly be sharing stories of what God is doing, casting vision for ministry, and keeping them in the loop on strategy and direction.

So, make a plan for:

Who you need to communicate with.

What you need to communicate.

How often they need to be communicated with.

What channels will be used for that communication?

 

But, people don’t just want to hear from you; they also want to be heard.

People feel like they belong somewhere to the extent that they feel known and listened to, so we need to give our leaders a voice and make sure that someone is hearing them.  

The second component of your communication machine will include a plan for:

How will leaders be heard?

Who will be hearing them (you don’t have time to do coffee with 100+ volunteers)?

How often will they be heard (e.g. if you have a weekly volunteer, you want to get feedback on a weekly basis)?

This system may include things like feedback forms, regular meetings, scheduled emails, group message threads, social media pages, ministry coaches, etc. – get creative!

 

The Information Processing Machine

As your ministry grows, the amount of information that you need to gather, track, and manage seems to grow exponentially.  This means that this machine needs to get bigger and more powerful the larger your ministry is.

Two areas you’ll want to focus on here include:

            Information about people.

            Information and metrics about ministry health.

We don’t gather and track information about people simply because we’re data nerds, but because we don’t want any of them to fall through the cracks and miss opportunities to care for them and lead them.

When it comes to metrics, think of them as diagnostic tools like a doctor would use.  If you go see your doctor, they have a number of basic tests they’ll perform – check your weight, height, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc.  They won’t put you into an MRI machine every time you see them – only if their initial tests noticed something unusual or you’ve expressed a particular symptom.

Similarly, identify a few simple measurements to keep your finger on the pulse of ministry health, but be prepared to dig deeper and gather more information if something stops working correctly.  

 

Keep building

Building ministry systems is not a one-time event.  Just like machines and dance floors, they will need maintenance and upkeep, but when they are running as they should, they will save you a ton of time and eliminate a lot of unnecessary stress.  You and your leaders will accomplish more in ministry and have more fun doing it. 

It is possible to both enjoy your leadership role and be incredibly effective at the same time.

One of the hallmarks of a leader who is burning out is that they’re working harder than ever but never feeling like they’re accomplishing more.

This doesn’t have to be you.

 

What’s your take?

There are certainly more systems to consider in a church than this (I didn’t even touch finances yet!).  What would you add to the list?

What has been working well for you?  What challenges do you face when trying to build ministry systems?

Leave a comment or share the article and start a conversation on social media.  Let’s learn together.

Thanks for being here,

Dan