Leadership is not just about tasks, it is about people. Workers get things done; leaders get things done through others and for others. If we are going to be effective leaders, we are going to have to approach our daily work with this perspective. If we are going to be effective church builders, we are going to have to build leaders who build other leaders. In the Church, this is not just a good idea, it is really our only way forward. At VOUS we say our organization is staff led but servant leader run. What we mean is there is no way our small staff could pull off just about anything we do without an army of hundreds of people who serve consistently and sacrificially. Our vision extends far beyond the reaches of our own two hands.

Building leaders is not complicated, but it is certainly not easy. It requires intentionality, effort, trust, and time. We have to invest in people, trust them with real responsibility, and walk with them long enough to see them grow. There is no formula for that process, because there is no formula for a human relationship. People are people. We’re different, we’re emotional, we’re unpredictable. And that’s okay. But, as leaders, we have to be willing to walk that sometimes difficult path with people.

This does not mean, however, that we cannot approach this process in a systematic, structured, and strategic way. Though relationships are organic, organic processes can be guided and nurtured. Think of a trellis in a garden. Plants are organisms that can’t be manufactured, forced, or hurried. But we can support them in their growth by providing a structure within which they can thrive and grow. There are a number of ways we do that at VOUS. Today I want to talk to you about just one of them: Team Leaders Meeting.

What is Team Leaders Meeting?

Team Leaders Meeting is a regular gathering we host for—you guessed it—our team leaders. (We do this on a Saturday morning about five times a year.) This group includes everyone who leads one of our Sunday teams, along with our Crew Captains and Coaches, Service Coaches, and other key leaders who serve at a high capacity in our church. All in all, we currently invite about 350 people to attend.

The purpose of Team Leaders Meeting is to gather our key leaders under one roof to honor and thank them for all they do, worship and pray together, be encouraged by God’s word, cast vision for the season ahead, and share strategy for how we plan to move forward.

What happens at Team Leaders Meeting?

Team Leaders Meeting typically kicks off with a team breakfast. (A little bacon and eggs do the soul a whole lot of good.) At a designated time, our staff starts to lead everyone into our gathering space. We worship and share key announcements, often reviewing our seasonal calendar together and highlighting important events. Our hosts share data from the past few weeks or months and celebrate wins. We highlight specific servant leaders and honor them, connecting their service to our seven core values. Someone from our leadership team shares a message, encouraging and challenging our leaders for the season to come. We spend time in prayer, praying for new leaders who are stepping up and often taking moments to allow servant leaders to pray for one another.

As our large gathering ends we split into breakouts, organized by department. Our staff leads our servant leaders through breakouts, sharing specific vision and strategy for the coming months. Breakouts often contain many of the elements of our larger gathering—data, celebration, honor, vision, objectives, prayer—but executed at a more focused level. Breakouts are a key component of these meetings. They are where we get to speak to the strengths and weaknesses of our departments and identify opportunities for growth and development. Our hope is that our leaders leave breakouts full of vision for what’s ahead and clear next steps for what they can do to help move our church forward.

What should you do next?

As always, our goal is not to inspire you to do what we do. The question you might be asking me is the question I would ask you: What should you do with this? Only you can determine how to apply this information to your context and circumstances. If you haven’t identified leaders in your church and given them clear, specific assignments, perhaps that could be your first step. If you know who your leaders are, maybe you could organize a gathering where you spend time together, celebrate all God is doing in your community, and talk about what you hope might be in your future.

Or maybe you’re way ahead of us and already do all of this and more. If that’s the case, we would love to hear about what you’re doing and how we could continue to grow in our leadership. I speak for our team when I tell you how grateful we are to have you in our VOUS Friends + Family community. Thank you for coming on the journey with us!