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Benefiting the Church

Effective leadership teams don’t exist for themselves, they exist to benefit their church or organization.  A team may enjoy being together and encouraging one another, but if they fail to serve the church, then they have failed.  There are a number of ways that an effective leadership benefits the church.

First, the team can help the church to achieve its mission. Of course, this assumes that the church knows what its mission is! If the church does not know its mission, perhaps the initial way that a team can serve the church is to help it discover and articulate that mission.

Second, they work with members of the church or organization to identify and pursue the actions that will move the church toward its mission, always being sensitive to the context in which the church finds itself, its resources (both known and undiscovered),  and the intervention of the Spirit.

Third, an effective leadership team equips persons as they seek to achieve the mission.  A leadership team should not be expected to do it all themselves.  They must constantly be discovering and equipping persons for ministry both inside and outside the walls of the church.  This action multiplies the work of the team and insures the continuity of the church.

Fourth, the leadership team is responsible to be good stewards of the resources placed at their disposal.  These include people, finances, property, equipment, and even digital resources.  This responsibility is not just to the people of the organization but to God as well.

Fifth, perhaps the greatest contribution that a leadership team can make is to dream and challenge members of the organization to dream.  Leaders are always seeking possibilities and encouraging others to discover them as well. 

In these and other ways, an effective leadership team is a blessing to its church.

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