There is an old joke that goes as follows: A mom comes in on Sunday morning to wake her son and tells him that he needs to get ready for church. The son pulls the covers over his head and says he does not want to go. Rousing him again, the mom tells him he has to go and tells him she can give him 3 good reasons why. First, God wants him to go to church. Second, he always feels better after he goes. Finally, and most importantly, he is the pastor!
Many of us feel this way about parish staff meetings. They can be long, boring and unproductive. So, if both the pastor and the staff feel this way, why bother? While staff meetings are not popular, if conducted properly, they can be very beneficial for your parish.
They keep everyone informed about goals, projects and progress against them. Everyone will feel engaged and part of the broader team. They allow for feedback and collaboration. And if the meetings work, it is definitely good for overall morale.
An electronic newsletter from the Diocese of Philadelphia, InFormation, had an excellent article on staff meetings. http://archphila.org/pastplan/InFormation/information8-2.pdf That article opens with this statement; “The staff meeting is one of the most important disciplines a parish staff team can practice.” It further goes on to say, “The staff meeting is a primary place to provide a place as a clearinghouse for information and a point of alignment for the efforts of all staff members.”
There are specific purposes defined in the article. Mission alignment is critical for any parish. By better understanding the overall vision each team/ministry can better understand how their contribution fits into the broader effort and why it is critical to success. When all staff/ministry are together it is an excellent opportunity for the pastor to weave the tapestry of how working together they can achieve their overall goal. This meeting is a perfect time to bring everyone together and refocus their efforts.
Staff meetings allow you to deepen a sense of community. In most parishes everyone is overworked, stretched thin and very busy. There is little time to engage others and understand their efforts. This can easily lead to a feeling of isolation and disconnectedness. When gathered together, everyone can feel supported and there may be an opportunity to identify spaces where efforts are being unwittingly duplicated by two or more teams. Understanding this, and adjusting accordingly, can lead to more effective and efficient collaboration between teams.
Staff meetings could also serve as a model for how you would like your ministry leaders to conduct their meetings. They will learn how to run effective and productive meetings so that their staffs will feel engaged and energized.
There are some practical considerations as well. You may want to hold more frequent (weekly or bi-weekly), shorter (1 hour or less) meetings with your ministry leads and consider less frequent (monthly), longer (1-2 hours) meetings with the entire staff. Next post we will talk more about the agenda and meeting logistics.