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 Staff Meetings in Large CongregationsHow to conduct staff meetings in churches of 500–2,000 people.
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2. Don't rush to decisions. Staff meetings are not gatherings in which everyone has to participate in every conversation, be involved in all decisions, and reach unanimous agreement—since decision making belongs to the staff members accountable for that item on the agenda. In fact, many staff meetings get smaller or larger as the meeting progresses. For example, a typical large-to-small progression might be: All Staff (clergy, program, administrative, and support staff): Meeting for common prayer, a review of the calendar for the upcoming week/month, and a chance to see everyone in the same place at once. Pastoral Care (clergy, program staff, and executive secretary): Meeting for a review of those who need pastoral care and to assign a staff member to provide the care. The executive secretary's function is to manage the list of those assigned to give care and those to receive care. Program Team (clergy and program staff): Meeting for a review of program work. Supervisory questions such as those listed above (What have we been doing? What are we learning?) will be asked and addressed. This is often the right staff configuration for looking at big-picture issues or events facing the congregation in the future. Worship Team (clergy and staff with worship responsibilities): Meeting for planning the worship in the coming week or season. Remember that when decisions are made that affect the work of other staff who are no longer or not yet in the room, someone present must communicate the decision with those absent members. 3. Delegate and entrust. After information is shared and issues are identified, the staff members involved and responsible for a task should be asked to work "off line," or outside of the meeting, individually or in a small group to resolve issues or plan responses. I've not mentioned several other purposes and needs that are a part of staff life and responsibility: shared worship, shared study, team building, and looking together into the larger future of the culture and community. Some staff do make room on the agenda to include these topics regularly or occasionally, while others do not. In deciding whether to include a topic in a meeting, the staff should ask themselves, Are these issues best addressed as part of a staff meeting or given more specific attention? How much time in a staff meeting is too much time? We still have a lot to learn about large congregations. What have been your experiences with staff meetings? What seems to work for your group? Please share your observations with us by writing to me at GRendle@alban.org. Gil Rendle, senior consultant and seminar leader at the Alban Institute, is a United Methodist minister who has worked with many congregations in the areas of strategic planning, team building, and change management. Reproduced from Alban In Progress newsletter (February 2004), with permission from the Alban Institute. Copyright © 2004 by The Alban Institute, Inc., Herndon, VA. All rights reserved. Used with permission. |             |
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