Rebuilt Chapter Resources

In this video, Brian Cook talks about attracting and maintaining ministry teams:

You Can Do This! Starting New Ministries

• Start a ministry (not a liturgical ministry): a host team to greet guests at your front door or a hospitality team to serve coffee in your lobby after Mass. Try to invite some new people who have never served before, in addition to regulars. Appoint a team leader you know and trust. Give him or her real authority as well as responsibility.
• Invest in your leader and team, give them lots of your time as you launch your ministry. Together, reflect on your standards and values, what you’re looking for in terms of wins. Decide what you’re going to wear. Get t-shirts, badges, lanyards, or whatever works best in your setting and culture.
• When you do launch, don’t make a big deal out of it with the larger congregation. If they do, fine, but you don’t. This is about under-promising and over-delivering: You might still have a long way to go in sustaining your new ministry.
• Prepare for the inevitable setbacks (your leader quits; your team doesn’t show up on Sunday; someone complains about the effort itself ). Don’t get discouraged and don’t give up. Keep turning the flywheel even if, from time to time, it’s all on you. But most of all keep investing in your team. That will ensure it’s not all on you all of the time.
• After you’ve got your team solidly established, start a second team to serve in some other way (parking or ops). It will be easier the second time.