Creating a New Way for Committees and Boards at Brighton First

It has been nearly a year since the congregation of Brighton First agreed to implement the five prescriptions of the Vital Church Initiative Consultant team. For me, as senior pastor, this has been a large undertaking and over the last 12 months I have been challenged to step up to new ways of leadership. The same is true for the Brighton First staff.

Our staff members that lead church programming recently had a conversation about their roles as liaisons to various committees, boards and teams. They shared their experiences of shifting from doing much of the ministry to developing leaders for ministry.

This is a new way to understand the responsibilities of lead staff members at Brighton First. In a traditional "staff driven" church, staff can find themselves running events and programs with little assistance from the congregation. Congregation members are very willing to be involved, but staff may find it more expedient to just do it themselves.

This model puts staff who have been hired to carry out the mission of the church in ministry areas, in a difficult position. While staff members are handling the details, they are diminishing congregational opportunities for leadership development, engagement in fulfilling ministry and discipleship.

If Brighton First is to fulfill its mission as a church that leads people to know, love and serve God, then program staff roles will change. Staff members, however, understand that this can be a painful process, not only for them, but for the church. Programs and events that are managed by staff alone will end. Committees and boards that have relied on staff members to do the majority of the assigned tasks between meetings, will see responsibility shift.

Rather than create programming, staff members will be assisting church leaders, helping with leadership development, mission alignment, goal setting and evaluation. Members of several program committees are already experiencing the shift. While it is not an easy transition, we are blessed by leadership rising to new roles and responsibilities.