Community Impact Application

XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church—items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Community Impact Application of Christ Community Church in Greely, Colorado.

At Christ Community Church, we believe that every one of us is the church in the world God has placed us in. Not only that, but our entire church is to be seen as a reproducing community of authentic disciples, equipped as missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim His Kingdom in our world. In essence, the church exists to bless the world, not just us. And that’s why you’re looking at starting a new ministry designed to “bless the world” in a unique and creative way.

At Christ Community, we also believe that service and life change happens best when people are in authentic community with each other. Throughout the Bible, it is clear that God has designed people to work together for greater effectiveness and fulfillment in service. So, our desire is that all ministry be done in the context of a team.

This workbook will lead you through the Team Ministry Process (TMP) of Christ Community and will start you on your way to designing a purposeful, effective ministry that will impact people in our community.

Before we begin, let’s introduce some key ideas that you will need to understand in order to complete this workbook.

The primary tool used in our TMP is this symbol, called a “team diagram”: (see PDF below article)

The outer circle represents the scope of your ministry and your responsibilities in that ministry. The cross hairs divide the team into four functional groups. The “L” in the center represents the leader of this ministry team.

We believe that each person in our church can continue growing and developing in each of these areas in order to experience the fullness of a relationship with Christ. So, an important role of every ministry team leader is to facilitate the implementation of these four areas in the people and activities of their team.

Also, as you go through this workbook, don’t feel like you have to do it alone. Ask a friend or leader in the church for help. Or, better yet, think of four or five people you might want to take this journey with as you begin thinking through this ministry in detail. Keep in mind, however, that these people aren’t necessarily the ones that God might raise up for long-term leadership of the ministry. They are possibly only onboard long enough to pray and work with you as you seek God’s will and envision what this team could look like in the life of our church family. Some may step into formal leadership; others may not.

This is an exciting time to be a part of Christ Community as God continues to open up more and more doors of opportunity to bless our city! We are committed to seeing as many people as possible experience the fullness of a relationship with Christ. With you and the ministry God has placed on your heart, we will truly be able to impact our community.

Let’s begin …

Step 1: Define the Scope of the Ministry

What is the name of this ministry team?
Who is your target audience, and what are their most significant needs and characteristics?
List all the responsibilities or activities involved in this ministry.

Step 2: Define the Purpose of the Ministry

Each ministry team needs a Purpose Statement which describes why the ministry exists and which clearly indicates how it supports the purpose of our church.

The purpose of Christ Community Church is:

To help as many people as possible experience the fullness of a relationship with Christ.

1. Write a short, easy to remember statement that describes why this specific ministry exists and how it is externally-focused.

Step 3: Define Functional Groupings

If the responsibilities and activities of this ministry (listed in Step 1.3) were grouped into four categories of related functions, what would they be?

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Would the combinations of these four encapsulate the total responsibilities and activities needed to effectively accomplish this ministry? If not, try to reorganize the responsibilities so that they can (if you can’t at this point, just move ahead; don’t let this cause you to get stuck).

___ Yes, they do encapsulate the entire ministry.

___ No, they do not encapsulate the entire ministry.

Exercise: Name each group with a heading that describes the four areas from the chart above. (Example: The category may have been “Following up with guests,” and the title would be “Guest Follow-Up Team.”)

Team A: _______________

Team B: _______________

Team C: _______________

Team D: _______________

Step 4: Identify Leader Qualifications—Primary Leader

Primary Team Name:________________________

Position: Primary Team Leader

List the qualifications desired for the primary leader of this entire ministry team.

Spiritual Gifts: ________________________________________________________

Heart Passions: ______________________________________________________

Abilities: ____________________________________________________________

Personality: __________________________________________________________

Experience: __________________________________________________________

Step 5: Select Candidates

Now make a list of people you believe would be the best candidates for this team leadership position. Think carefully about anyone who matches the SHAPE profile and spiritual maturity level desired.

List possible candidates for this position:
________________________

________________________

Choose from your possible candidates the person who best fits as the primary leader for this entire team and write his or her name below:

Primary Team Leader:____________________

Step 6: Identify Leader Qualifications—Team A

Team Name:_______________________________

Position: Team A Leader

List the qualifications desired for the primary leader of this entire ministry team.

Spiritual Gifts: ________________________________________________________

Heart Passions: ______________________________________________________

Abilities: ____________________________________________________________

Personality: __________________________________________________________

Experience: __________________________________________________________

Step 7: Select Candidates

Now make a list of people you believe would be the best candidates for this team leadership position. Think carefully about anyone who matches the SHAPE profile and spiritual maturity level desired.

List possible candidates for this position:

________________________

Choose from your possible candidates the person who best fits as the primary leader for this entire team and write his or her name below:

Team A Leader: _________________________

Step 8: Identify Leader Qualifications—Team B

Team Name:_______________________________

Position: Team B Leader

List the qualifications desired for the primary leader of this entire ministry team.

Spiritual Gifts: ________________________________________________________

Heart Passions: ______________________________________________________

Abilities: ____________________________________________________________

Personality: __________________________________________________________

Experience: __________________________________________________________

Step 9: Select Candidates

Now make a list of people you believe would be the best candidates for this team leadership position. Think carefully about anyone who matches the SHAPE profile and spiritual maturity level desired.

List possible candidates for this position:

________________________

Choose from your possible candidates the person who best fits as the primary leader for this entire team and write his or her name below:

Team B Leader: _________________________

Step 10: Identify Leader Qualifications—Team C

Team Name:_______________________________

Position: Team C Leader

List the qualifications desired for the primary leader of this entire ministry team.

Spiritual Gifts: ________________________________________________________

Heart Passions: ______________________________________________________

Abilities: ____________________________________________________________

Personality: __________________________________________________________

Experience: __________________________________________________________

Step 11: Select Candidates

Now make a list of people you believe would be the best candidates for this team leadership position. Think carefully about anyone who matches the SHAPE profile and spiritual maturity level desired.

List possible candidates for this position:

________________________

Choose from your possible candidates the person who best fits as the leader for this ministry team and write his or her name below:

Team C Leader: _________________________

Step 12: Identify Leader Qualifications—Team D

Team Name:________________________

Position: Team D Leader

List the qualifications desired for the primary leader of this entire ministry team.

Spiritual Gifts: ________________________________________________________

Heart Passions: ______________________________________________________

Abilities: ____________________________________________________________

Personality: __________________________________________________________

Experience: __________________________________________________________

Step 13: Select Candidates

Now make a list of people you believe would be the best candidates for this team leadership position. Think carefully about anyone who matches the SHAPE profile and spiritual maturity level desired.

List possible candidates for this position:

____________________________

Choose from your possible candidates the person who best fits as the leader for this ministry team and write his or her name below:

Team D Leader: ___________________

Step 14: Recruit and Train the Leaders

Don’t wait for the right people to volunteer or suddenly appear! Make “the ask!” Invite and challenge the people you have identified as your “best fits” to join your team, and then let God handle the outcome.
Seek God’s guidance about the person you’ll ask to serve and the conversation you’ll share.
Share with them about the purpose, responsibilities, and benefits of joining this team.
Invite them to pray. Do not ask for an immediate answer. Suggest the person take at least a day to pray about the position, even if they would like to say “yes” right away.
Equip the person to serve through training. Provide the person with tools they will need to be effective in ministry through leadership training or specific skills training.
Help them duplicate this same six-step process and complete a Team Ministry Process workbook for their own team.
Stay in close communication with the new leader to make certain that they feel both supported in their leadership and a part of your team’s community.
Help the leader document the Position Descriptions needed for their ministry team.

Step 15: Putting It All Together

Okay, we’re almost done with the Team Development Process! In this section, each of the elements will be placed together to document your Ministry Team.

The name of this ministry team is: (Step 1) ________________________________________________________________

The purpose of this ministry team is: (Step 2) ________________________________________________________________

Write in the team’s names and leader’s names in the diagram below: (see PDF for diagram)

Congratulation on completing the Team Development Process! Now you have experienced a duplicatable pattern for helping others develop effective ministry teams. The next step is that the leaders of Teams A, B, C and D will each duplicate this Team Development Process and complete a new workbook in the process of developing their respective teams.