BUILDING LEADERS, SURVIVING CONFLICT & MOTIVATING LAITY

AnnMarie Mecera

“…effective techniques of human communications, administration and teamwork succeed not because Lee Iacocca

invented them, but because they’re accommodating some aspect of our God-given human nature.”

“Whether they’re used at Chrysler or Constantinople, administrative techniques that truly support and enhance human fellowship and interaction (the true purpose of administration) are rooted in God’s Truth. The place where these techniques are used doesn’t affect whether they’re godly or not.”

Orthodox Christian Meetings

Building Leaders

Both Clergy AND Laity

Building Leaders

Empowerment

Building Leaders

DIFFERENT from Delegation

Empowerment vs Delegation

Delegation is the assignment of responsibility or authority to another person (normally from a manager to a

subordinate) to carry out specific activities.

Not a bad thing, but…

Empowerment

Empowerment is a sound principle for allowing your team to get the job done.

Empowerment

•Promoting production of additional ‘pies’ to feed the parish more richly

instead of ‘dividing the pie’

•Sharing with the royal priesthood

Empowerment

•Sharing with the royal priesthood

Empowerment

Empowerment works best when the focus is on implementing pieces of the parish vision or addressing issues that your parishioners

greatly care about.

Empowerment

Is NOT:•Passing on unsuitable activities•Mundane, insulting tasks

•Clearly beyond their expertise•Abdication of power

EmpowermentCHECKLIST

Determine & quantify the benefits you expect to achieve through empowering your leaders

Make sure your leadership knows it will be a fairly long process involving time and other resources

Provide training, coaching and other learning opportunities to your leadership

Use your theological training to teach your leaders

Look at the ‘authorization procedures’ you currently have in place. Are they too much? This may require re-defining decision rights.

“Parish Council members, just like church school teachers or choir members, require training that is scripturally based…”Metropolitan Philip, Antiochian Archdiocese

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Motivating Laity

Reasons Why Parishioners Do NOT

Get Involved

Motivating Laity

Motivating Laity

•Getting hurt

•Failure (letting God down?)

•New relationships

Motivating Laity

What makes people WANT tovolunteer?

Motivating Laity• Positive church atmosphere/happy congregation

• Clear, positive challenge• They are aware of the need

• They feel a personal responsibility• They believe they can make a difference

• They join their friends• They feel obligated (guilt)• They have been ASKED!!!

But it’s not always ONE specific reason!

Remember this from our discussion on Leadership/ Empowerment?

Empowerment works best when the focus is on implementing pieces of the parish vision or addressing issues that your parishioners

greatly care about.

Motivating Laity

Different Ministries for Different Folks

Motivating Laity

Over 65have time and want to contribute in a

meaningful way

Motivating Laity

Ages 45-65 skilled in their jobs and have

professional experience to share; time may be opening up after years

of parenting

Motivating Laity

Ages 30-45 have more limited time because of raising families and/or their career,

but still want to serve

Motivating Laity

Ages 18-30 voracious volunteers, but need

opportunities to do things (in their own way in their own time).

Motivating Laity

“People want to live lives of meaning and significance. This is what the

church can do better than any other institution because we are

ambassadors of the God’s reign.”

Prince Raney Rivers, pastor of United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Motivating Laity

We have examples of ‘volunteers’ in the Bible:

•The Disciples•The man who fetched the donkey

for Christ•Those who made arrangements for

the use of the Upper Room

Motivating Laity

Christ is the Ultimate Volunteer

Motivating Laity

Ask for a return of their gifts and talents they’ve received from God

Stewardship Interview: "Giving is Part of our Spiritual Life“

“Our Patterns of Giving”

Motivating Laity

Being a member of the Body entails ministry; anything from prayer to

faithful attendance can be so registered. Anyone without some

'ministry' cannot be ‘en-membered’.Fr. Daniel Rentel

Motivating Laity“En-membered”

‘En’:1. to put into or on

2. To cause something to happen3. to provide with something.

Think in terms of Eucharist what it means to re-member.

Thank you, Fr. Dan

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Surviving Conflict

CHANGE.

BREEDS.CONFLICT.

SURVIVING CONFLICT

“Is this change worth it? What will the gain be?”

Surviving Conflict

Surviving Conflict

And make no commitments or promises without it!

Surviving Conflict

Surviving Conflict

•Don’t minimize the negatives

•Openly discuss positives and negatives

Surviving Conflict

•Educate

It’s aboutSURVIVING it.

St. Conflictus is right over there.

We can make it!

SURVIVING CONFLICT

•Discuss at Parish Council meetings•Educational sessions on conflict

•Ask the parish to pray•Pray

•Get help

SURVIVING CONFLICT

•Consider how to minimize the threat and loss to the parish

SURVIVING CONFLICT

Allow congregation to share their feelings

aka LISTEN

SURVIVING CONFLICT

From both priest and lay leaders

SURVIVING CONFLICT

Build a vibrant parish where parishioners can:

•find the love of God, •know they are ‘home’,

•cultivate their relationship with God

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

1. One specific challenge I want to address related to this presentation

2. Laity/Clergy I want to possibly engage in addressing this challenge

3. I will know I have successfully dealt with this challenge when…..