Increasing the Spiritual Conversations of Your Pastoral Staff
I am amazed at how many pastoral staff members in local churches are woefully inactive at personally sharing their faith or even explaining the gospel.
How does one help their staff or volunteers to increase the number of spiritual conversations they get into in a typical week of ministry?
The place for a leader to start is prayer. Pray specifically for your team members to be active in sharing their faith. Paul prayed for Philemon when he wrote, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ" (Philemon 1:6). When is the last time you prayed for your staff members to be active in sharing the good news of Jesus to those who they come in contact on a daily basis.
The second place would be to raise the faith level of your team by raising the expectations. One of the aspects of being a great team leader is raising the team's expectations. Suppose you are serious about increasing the spiritual conversations throughout your ministry as a leader. In that case, you will have to raise the expectations of yourself and the team God has given you.
What would happen if each of your team members engaged in at least two spiritual conversations a week? That would that be hundreds of spiritual conversations a year. How many conversions would come from 100 conversations? I believe our conversions will increase if we learn to count our conversations.
The third place would be to show them the opportunities right around them. A pastor friend of mine was leading a small group, and after about six months, he walked them through the Spiritual Journey Guide by asking everyone the simple question, "Where are you right now on your spiritual journey?" To his amazement, nearly half of the group identified themselves as spiritual seekers, not followers of Jesus. Assumptions kill evangelism! Because a person attends church or is connected relationally to a community of faith, unfortunately, it has little to do with that person's understanding of the gospel.
When coaching pastors in evangelism, I encourage them to look at the fringe people of their church first. They are always amazed at the receptivity of these people who have attended their church in the last year or infrequently for years to a phone call, personal visit, or an invitation to a small group designed for them. How many receptive people are there on the fringes of your ministry?
The martyr missionary Jim Elliot said, "Work where God is working. Don't hammer at unprepared soil when there is ready ground nearby."
Takeaways:
Start praying for your staff as Paul did you, Philemon.
At every staff meeting, ask: Will anyone share one of the spiritual conversations they engaged in this last week?
Start identifying and praying for those on the fringe of your ministry. Churches have hundreds and even thousands on their mailing or email lists.
Find a coach that will help you guide, inspire or lead your people into the work of evangelism. Contact team@garyrohrmayer.com for more information on three-month coaching process that will help you increase your spiritual conversations.
