Day: October 6, 2016
To Enhance Member Engagement, Acknowledge Member Contributions
Have You Said Thank You?
You’d be surprised at how many pastors want to build church growth through more engagement from their members. Yet, simultaneously they do a poor job of acknowledging their contributions. In fact, in many cases they take those contributions for granted. Whether it’s a regular giver, a staff member, a Sunday School teacher or ministry volunteer, they rarely if ever are thanked. And if they are acknowledged, it is usually in perfunctory ways.
Value Contributions and Build Trust
What may start as a trusting relationship often fails when people take each other for granted. That usually boils down to a failure to acknowledge the value and contributions of another individual. Building trust requires not only giving people meaningful assignments, but also treating them well as they perform them. An important part of that is making an effort to acknowledge their contributions.
Learning From John Wooden
John Wooden is arguably the most successful college basketball coach ever. In the 1960’s and 70’s he guided UCLA to ten national championships in eleven years. When I interviewed Coach Wooden, he explained that it was essential to acknowledge contributions of all players, regardless of how small their role was. He illustrated this point by sharing an analogy,
“I’d say, ‘We’re like a powerful automobile and this player, maybe Jabbar is the powerful engine. You now, are a wheel; and you over here are a nut that holds that wheel on. Now which is most important? What good is that engine if we don’t have wheels? What if you don’t have nuts holding that wheel on? You also need somebody behind that wheel, inside, directing it or you’ll go in circles. You all have an important part.’ And I made a special effort at practice to let those who aren’t playing know how much I appreciated them.”
Finding the Right Way to Say Thank You
Appropriate recognition can be verbal or written, but occasionally it must go beyond that. Sometimes people who make significant contributions, need to benefit in some way from the fruits of their labor. It could be a bonus for staff or a nice dinner or trip for a volunteer. It says simply that we value and thank you for your contribution. At our church, one volunteer gave thousands of hours over several years to help acquire land and then build a new church. The church acknowledged his contributions with a trip for him and his wife.
While trips or bonuses aren’t always possible, acknowledging people in special ways is important. Simply stated, it builds trust and engagement. Assuming leaders endeavor to maximize staff and volunteer potential, they should recognize also that getting more out of a relationship sometimes requires giving more. In our church leadership consulting, we remind pastors that when people begin to trust and give they start to move out of the realm of contractual obligations and into the realm of covenantal ownership and engagement.
The Power of Covenants
True, covenants are far more complicated than contracts. They require willingness on the part of leader and follower alike to respect, trust and give rather than just receive from the relationship. In essence, it means acknowledging the contributions of each other, but it also means sharing talents, resources, work, problems and even revenues. That creates a long-term environment of mutual trust and engagement that promises not only to prosper and strengthen the church but is also a strategy on how to grow church membership.
