Game Time Defensive Coordinator
Last week we started looking at having an Offensive Coordinator in ministry. I know that having a coordinator sounds funny in some ways. Still, hopefully, over the last few days, you have been able to target or think about someone who would be a strong asset to your ministry in the Offensive Coordinator role.
Well, today, we look on the other side of our ministry, the defensive side. In our blog today, we are going to look at signs of a robust Defensive Coordinator. Let me quickly echo some of my prerequisites I have for someone who serves as a coordinator in our ministry. I have found that the person who serves in the role of one of your Coordinators is someone who can talk to you from a mindset of honesty, respect, and can honestly evaluate your small groups, worship services, and your impact with students. My Coordinators come to me and challenge me to evaluate goals from different perspectives that lead to changes within our ministry.
Evaluate and form these five items below into a Great Defensive Coordinator for your ministry.
5 Things a Great Defensive Coordinator Does for Your Ministry
5. They bring strategies and honest conversations regularly to your ministry. A Defensive Coordinator studies trends happening in teenagers’ lives and help bring an approach to our staff. They understand what is happening in our society and what is causing students to grow and what causes students to wander away from the Christian Faith. A Defensive Coordinator is someone who will come in and have honest conversations about what can we fix and how can we set up our students to win daily in their Christian Faith. A lot of what our Coordinators bring to the table help change the direction of our ministry. Why? Because they are in the trenches serving, and they bring ideas that help provide students with spiritual growth opportunities.
4. They help find volunteers to disciple students. Throughout the years of doing ministry, I have found that there is something pivotal to recruiting volunteers. Allow your volunteers to recruit other adults to serve alongside them. A Defensive Coordinator will find others to come and volunteer in our ministry, but they will also help connect students with people who can and will disciple them. When volunteers in your ministry and church begin to disciple students, watch out because momentum is starting to take your ministry to the next level. You need someone who will help recruit others to invest in the lives of teenagers. (Obviously, a background check and all that your church does to protect the safety of students must happen first).
3. They serve and talk to our students. Scott, are you being serious right now? Yes! I want someone who loves our students just as much as I do. I want someone who will serve and dive into conversations with teenagers to help our students know they are valued. Remember, the Defensive Coordinator is helping to implement a strategy to protect our students from drifting away from the church and their faith. One of the most reliable tools we have in ministry is our volunteers talking with students, but more importantly, doing life with our students.
2. They help invest and cast a vision for our leadership team. I want my Defensive Coordinator to build an idea alongside me for our ministry, but I need them to throw that same vision to our leadership team. Our ministry would suffer if it were always Scott says this and that. I want our leaders to think, process, and then own the vision of our ministry. Then after they have owned our ministry, they cast the concept to the rest of our leadership team.
My Defensive Coordinator invests in our leaders, but they also help cast the vision of our ministry to other people. We need someone who understands the Why and then takes the vision to our leadership team.
1. They are helping to break down barriers in students’ lives. I want my Defensive Coordinator breaking down barriers for our students. When we talk with our students, and we begin to see that something in our programming, teaching, etc is hindering our students, we will fix it right away. But, sometimes, our students are struggling because of theological questions or because they do not understand Biblical teaching. Our Defensive Coordinator is someone who I fully trust to help students work through these barriers in their life.
We had a student a few months ago share with us that a barrier in their life was my teaching. Now I know you are like, what? Well, they said I looked at my watch too much, and when it gets close to the time to end, I seemed rushed, or I was cutting things out of my message. We had to work through that barrier by actually not having me wear a watch, but I now say we will end between 7:30-7:45. Why? Because when we presented this to our students, the students said they wanted more teaching, and they do not care about the time. You are kidding me! Yes, I will keep teaching you God’s Word.
Over these next few weeks, begin to identify someone who can come alongside you to serve in the role of a Coordinator in your ministry. I promise it will impact your ministry significantly.
