How To Run An Effective Church Staff Meeting

Many senior leaders dread weekly church staff meetings, because they are unorganized, lack direction, or are too long-winded. For some church staffs, they feel like the most unproductive time of the week. However, staff meetings should be a time of problem solving and vision casting to help your team serve your church effectively. I recommend having your church staff meetings on Tuesdays. Allow your team to rest on Monday and then come in ready to debrief the Sunday experience on Tuesday.

Here are six characteristics of an effective church staff meeeting:

1. Have the Right People – It's hard to know who to involve in your church staff meetings each week, but I recommend only involving the executive team and those who make things happen. Use this time to equip your senior leaders to then pour into their ministry teams. The smaller number the better because it builds a sense of community and efficiency.

2. Confidentiality – Make sure everyone knows that everything discussed in the meeting stays in the meeting. This is crucial to establishing trust among your church leadership team.

3. Casual Environment - Create a relaxed environment to encourage open conversation. Encourage laughter and fun by telling funny stories from the last week. Have coffee and snacks as your team sits back on couches and comfortable chairs. White board walls help inspire creativity. Depending on your team's personality, you may or may not need an agenda. I recommend not having a rigid agenda so that you can inspire organic conversation and problem solving.

4. Prayer – Make prayer a pivotal part of your meeting. Pray before, during, and after your meeting to recenter your team on the Lord.

5. Focus on Big Issues – Don't get bogged down in the details in the meeting. Look at the big picture of where you've been and where you're going as a church. Equip the executive team with vision and tools to take care of the details throughout the week.

6. Accountability and Critique – Open the conversation for accountability and critique. Make sure that your team feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions. Feelings can’t get hurt because that’s where teams grow and develop. Deconstuct your ministries and rebuild them in the church staff meetings. Whether it’s successful or not, pull off each layer and rebuild it.

What are some tips you have for church staff meetings?