Three Traps to Avoid When Launching a Church Leadership Residency Program (and Three Truths to Combat Them)
by Dave Miller
Yes that’s a long title for a short blog post, but I don’t know that anyone really wakes up on an average Tuesday thinking “what are we going to intentionally do to find, support, and develop the next generation through a Church Residency Program…”
I never did when I was on a church staff.
I do believe you wake up thinking about a ton of super important things that every week are on your front burner. You have ministry dreams and plans.
Our Director of Partnerships, Sean Badeer, says he speaks with churches for months before they make a decision. “Sometimes its 18 months to two years,” he says, “and in that timeframe they lose a staff member and have to launch a search. If only they would have started a church residency when we first talked…someone would be there. Someone could have been ready.”
So, if you answer yes to these questions you should do this. (You really don’t have a choice. )
So ask yourself:
Is our church trying to advance?
Is our church a place where I believe someone could learn best practices for ministry?
Do I have a staff member who has proven they are a developer of people?
If you answer yes to these you really should do this. That’s it? Yes that’s it.
Three Traps to Avoid That Will Just Waste Time:
The Over Engineered Trap. You think if you write the curriculum and iron out the process over the next year then you’ll be ready. THE TRUTH IS: No matter what you do you are going to tweak this as you go and throw away versions 1,2,3 as you move forward.
The We Don’t Have Time Trap. This one actually is valid. You don’t, but it’s still a trap that will keep you from taking the first steps now. THE TRUTH IS: You make time for what is important, and Lp has the time to do this for you.
The We Don’t Know How Trap. This snare will lead you to many solutions looking for a problem. THE TRUTH IS: If you’ve been in ministry a decade+ you actually do know how to do this because someone did this for you. Perhaps it wasn’t called residency and coaching. THE TRUTH IS: You just need someone to go with you like Leadership Pathway who has done this a hundred times in church similar to yours.
Leadership Pathway has found that Launching a Church Residency Program is about having conersations. This is driven through partnerships, friendships, and carving out the time for the coaching. We know the secret to your church developing the next generation of leaders and that secret is you…we can go with you to help you get there.
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