Four Things to Consider When Starting a Ministry in Your Local Church

 When you get involved in a new Church, if you feel you are comfortable there and you have benefited from attending, it's not uncommon to have a desire to get involved in serving within some capacity in the church.

This may take the form of involving yourself in already established forms of ministry within your church, or it may be that you feel a specific inspiration to start something new.

All of us are on earth for a reason, discovering and living out our life purpose is one of the most fulfilling things we will do in life. Often church can be a forum where this is discovered. Below I would like to highlight some key considerations I feel will greatly benefit anyone embarking on involvement in ministry or leadership.

Start with WHY?

A book I highly recommend is called 'Start with WHY' by Simon Sinek, it conveys the fact that in order for our endeavours to have longevity and real influence, we must 'Start with WHY'.

Ask yourself; 'WHY' do I want to get involved with this particular ministry, or begin this ministry? Who stands to benefit? And why do I care? Jesus conveyed His 'WHY' When He was on this earth, He said; "I have come that you may have life and that more abundantly." When we define our 'WHY' It's the foundation for our vision and enables us to see clearly whether or not were on course. It also enables us to not be side tracked by other ideas, because we know clearly what we have set out to achieve.

Write it down!

It's been said that one of the habits of successful people is that they write down their goals. Again as with establishing your 'WHY' clearly delineating your objectives enables you to maintain perspective when life seeks to derail your best laid plans. So write down your vision, this will also help when you need to convey it to others, whether you need to get leaders on board or when seeking to rally others to participate in your cause. It could be that what you are embarking on is simply joining an already established function within the church like the christian mysticism  or Sunday school, but having a clear vision for your role and objectives enables you to maximise your contribution and develop yourself and your skills which will open opportunities for you in the future.

Use Money, Love People.

Bob Proctor made the interesting statement; 'Use money, Love people. It may appear a strange statement to make if we consider most ministry activities are voluntary, but I feel the sentiment is deeply relevant. It's so easy in business or church to make the activity or organisation the main thing, but if it's not for the true enrichment of others, particularly with church ministry then we need again to consider our 'WHY' remember healthy people follow leaders for themselves not to stroke the leaders ego, therefore people will always rally to a clearly communicated vision, that has their best interests at heart. Good leadership always asks; 'How can I help you achieve your objectives?' When you start a ministry look for ways to enrich the lives of others and guard this perspective sedulously.

Avoid Analysis Paralysis.

As with any other venture starting or involving ourselves in ministry will require that we take the plunge and do what we've set out to do. While that might sound obvious, it's very easy to become bogged down in planning and preparation, or in the case of involving ourselves with a group, procrastination can set it. Sometimes the fear of failure or our streak of perfectionism stops us getting on with it, but once we've done our homework, it's time to step out, sometimes setting clear deadlines helps, because it enables us to prepare ourselves within a time frame which holds us to account. But then it's time to get on. Remember it's all about others so the sooner the better. But don't let pressure overwhelm you either, Ministry is supposed to be enjoyable overloading yourself with activities and responsibilities may look noble, but it's a sure route to burn out. So always remember the exhortation of Christ; "Love your neighbour, as you Love yourself."

The Word ministry in the New Testament comes from two Greek words Diakonos is a noun meaning "a person who serves." From this we get the English word "deacon. The English word "liturgy" comes from leitourgia, which can also be translated "ministry", and refers to the ministry of Christ as a High Priest or Paul's ministry as an apostle. Essentially Ministry is an outflow of service to the body of Christ and to the world. When I created Ministry 101 and wrote 'How to start and grow a ministry in your local church' it was my passionate desire that as Gods people we would learn to serve Gods people from a genuine love that comes from a healthy understanding of who we are in Christ. When we learn our value and worth and truly love ourselves then we can truly love others. It's imperative that we invest in ourselves if we are to be truly effective servants in the body of Christ.