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The Lost Art of Volunteer and Staff Management - Matthew 7:12 The journey from my office to the administration office or to the reception desk is one of my 'litmus tests' of how things are going at BCC. Many churches look at attendance or offering figures; how many desicions made on a Sunday or even how quiet the office phone is to gauge whether things are going well or not. I have a different gauge.  | observe |
As the working day at BCC accelerates, I watch. I watch how the staff (paid and voluntary) interact. I listen. I listen in on conversations around coffee. I read. I read the threads on the emails that are passed around the many work stations here at BCC. It is here that I gauge the health of Bethel City Church. Many an excuse has been made regarding the effectiveness of church activity over the last 20 years and a proportion of those excuses (from my experience) have been laid firmly at the door of the 'people'. Very often it is said, 'If I only had the skilled people', or 'People won't do anything', or even 'They only come for the Sunday service'. Please. Please. Please read and abide by the Golden Rule. Our paid staff levels have grown considerably and our volunteer core is immense. We operate at a phenomenal pace. Why? Simple: I strive endlessly to implement and live by the Golden Rule. Jesus says in Matthew (7:12 TM) that the Golden Rule is: 'Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them.' This is the key! As I listen to the fun conversations, the committed relationships and the vision-filled email threads, the evidence that the Golden Rule works is overwhelming. Maybe the reason people do do what leaders desire is that we, as leaders, have some work to do ourselves. This is a dramatic challenge to leadership but one we must address if we are to build great and strong Church. When I have aired this previously, there has been recognised offence in the air. I presume that the work ethic of leader, co- leaders and followers is a holy grail and must never be touched. I say touch, maybe even 'scrutinise'. If leaders can harness the Golden Rule then Church would function so much more harmoniously and effectively. 1 Kings 9:15 says that Solomon used 'forced labour' to build the Temple. How can we build the House of God, made up of FREE people, by tactics of slave labour? As a leader there is a challenge regarding people functioning in the House of God. It is a responsibility and one must not pass the buck nor make excuses. The management of staff and volunteers is a lost art that we must learn, embrace and develop continuously. I believe that there are five keys to unlocking the potential of the Golden Rule: Work your Socks Off If the Golden Rule is true then in order to develop a strong work ethic the leader has to do like-wise. If the leader is working hard, we could question that either people are not seeing the results of this labour or that the leader is not working hard in the right areas. My staff do not let me work on practical ventures anymore such as our recent £250,000 building renovations. Why? I believe it is because they have seen me previously work tirelessly at setting up venues, lifting chairs and shifting rubble. Now they work tirelessly in order to release me to lead. Others are now embracing and modelling this work ethic and BCC is expanding at a phenomenal rate.  | create champions |
Working hard alongside people is also key. It is an excellent way to develop people, far superior than preaching and teaching. Get dirty with people. Don't laud it over them but like Jesus, get involved! Work hard for them, they'll work hard for you! Create and Champion Champions Often we don't get people functioning because they cannot do the task at hand. This is the exact moment when the Golden Rule demands a response! As leaders we have to first create champions. Give people a go. Let them try. Once they are underway we have to secondly champion the champion that we have created. Brag on them and celebrate their victories. Allow people to find their niche. Don't force people into a square hole if they don't fit. Let them find their place. When you start championing your champions they respond. Stoke City and the Premeirship are not a great mix! Yet the mighty Potters defeat a small team from London called Arsenal because the fans never stop cheering and championing their champions. The people that God has entrusted to you are your champions. Champion them, they'll champion you! Learn to Believe in the Unbeliever When the pressure is on, people can buckle. It is a known fact. Tasks set seem dauting and people can back off and say 'I can't'. This is when the leader who understands the Golden Rule rises to the occasion. The ability to Believe in the Unbeliever is essential. See the potential. Communicate your belief that they can do it, that you have commissioned them because you believe that they are exactly the right person for the job. Even when they doubt themselves, you still believe in them.  | Becky inspires people |
Inspire them with your belief in them. What occurs is that you build a platform for them to function on. Your belief and inspiration allows them to operate at and perform on a new level. You believe in them, they'll believe in you! Person vs Project I am very project focused. Due to this emphasis, I was often derided and criticised by previous mentors with the emphasis being that I didn't care for the indiviual. In moving to Stoke-on-Trent, many of those individuals followed us to the city. Why? I believe, after discussion, that even though I am vision focused, project minded and tenacious in my pursuit of building the House of God, I also build the person. Many projects come and go. If you use the person to build the project both will become part of history. However, if you use the project to build the person, the project may pass but the person gets bigger and becomes part of your world. Projects maybe important, influential and expensive but the value and investment into people is so much more precious. The project may fail but the person will succeed. Ensure that you invest your all into the people around you and they will invest their all into you! D-D-D-D- Go on... Delegate! One of the phrases that I am determined to live by is this: 'It is His church. He gets all the glory. He gets all the grief!' I say this to break the seriousness regarding this issue of delegation. The reason that many a leader doesn't delegate is because, if I may be frank, we are control freaks. Honestly, try it. Let go! It is God's Church. Entrust it to His people. This is not an empire that we sit residing over. The Church is His. She is splendid in His sight so we must stop trying to steal her for ourselves and instead inspire her to be as radiant as she can.
 | Bethel City Church - belongs to Jesus! |
Allow the 'living stones' to live and not merely sit there. I have served under controlling leadership and it drains the very life out of people. Develop the 'teflon anointing' where nothing sticks. Pass on. Release. Live with an open hand. Delegate and people will relish the opportunity! There we have it. The Golden Rule. Simple. Profound. Golden.
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