At Saddleback Church, people are the heartbeat of our ministry teams. We value volunteers and believe every member is a minister. We also believe great things come out of the overflow of a healthy staff team and that health begins with love. Love is our highest goal and is the foundation on which everything else stands. Simply put, we love because Jesus first loved us. Here are some of our favorite ways to show the love.
Know your team.
In our desire to produce weekly gatherings where the church can encounter the living God, we don’t want to miss the joy of knowing the people on our team. We expect God to do life-changing things in our midst on the weekends during the large gathering. But there are a thousand tiny moments that lead up to the weekend where life change happens.
God does some of his best work in our everyday lives through the relationships we have with our co-workers, our team, our volunteers, our co-laborers in Christ.
You place value on a person when you take the time to know them. There is nothing sweeter than being neck deep in ministry with people where understanding, camaraderie, and trust is flowing freely. Know your people. Know their story. Know their kids' names. Know their strengths and weaknesses. Go out to lunch and invite them into your home. People long to be known. And the joy of ministry is multiplied when you are serving shoulder to shoulder with a team you know and love.
Communication equals love.
The Saddleback rhythm is fast. Things can change in an instant around here. We have found that best way to combat the fast pace and to care for our team is to keep the lines of communication healthy and open.
If we have information, we share it. If we know a detail about an event or a service we make sure it gets to the right people. There’s nothing worse than having the information someone needs to succeed at their job and forgetting to pass it on. It creates disunity and rifts in the team.
We believe that the transfer of information — from one person to another, from worship leader to audio director, from staff to volunteer, from music director to video director, from stage manager to lighting director — is one of the primary ways we can show love.
When there is healthy communication, there is trust. When the pipeline of information is running smoothly, there is confidence. When your team is prepared and all the details for a plan have been communicated in a timely manner, there is space to be present and enjoy the experience.
Building a thriving ministry team takes work. It also takes people. Most of all, it takes love. And where there is love, there is strength, and trust, and understanding — building blocks for a vibrant and healthy team.
-- Stefanie Cassetto
