Grace Church Staff Updates- Staffing Structures and Team Updates (part 1 of 5)

Wanted to repost this update from last fall for Grace Church members / attenders.  My next few posts will be breaking down what each team mentioned below will be tackling at Grace.  So excited about what is happening!


(previously posted 10.11.2010 "Thats Not My Job, its Ours...")

Recently at Grace Church we experienced a rather unique transition of leadership at the top. Our Senior Pastor, Al Detter felt called to step aside and hand over the vision and direction to our Executive Pastor, Derek Sanford. What’s unique is that as Derek became the Senior Pastor, Al is remaining on staff in a Care and Support/Campus Pastor role. For more on Al’s decision and this rare story, go here and here.

As a result of this transition, my job and our staff structure has changed. We have moved to a mostly flat staff structure compiled of ministry teams with like-minded individuals. The teams we currently have in place are:

Weekend/Creative Team - To create a spiritually charged worship environment where people are compelled to attend, inspired to fully participate and motivated to bring others.

Family Ministry Team - Stir up a spiritual fervor across generations so that each member of the family is passionate about knowing, loving and serving God.

Next Steps Team - Grace exists to make more and be better followers of Christ. This team will help take us and you there.

Operations/Stewardship - To fully resource the mission of the Gospel while removing distractions between people and the gospel.

Invest/Influence - The outreach events, mission fields, culture channels, workplace ministry, ServErie and other community outpouring where we use the example of Christ’s Love towards others.

Care and Support - Health, healing and support for our congregation through the “gifts of the Spirit” and the “love of the brethren”

As Derek intends to stay involved with our staff in the areas of vision casting, ministry planning, and evaluation, I have stepped in to help with that as well as manage the day to day decisions and ministry implementation. Along with the team changes, we implemented an up and coming concept in organizations and ministries across the nation which eliminates job titles. Apart from the clarity that job titles provide, they can also be a barrier for those who have them and for those trying to communicate with those who have them.

All that customers, congregation members and guests care about is; who do I go to for what, where can I get ________ information and how do I get an answer to my question. At Grace, we have struggled with providing an easy road map to navigate the staff and not feel distant while getting the answers and resources needed. The intention has never been, “oh that’s _____ ‘s job”, but that is often how it has been perceived. Danielle Hartland has spearheaded the effort to change that by removing the titles from our communications and replacing it with ‘what we can help you with’ and we are making a concerted effort to connect people to the appropriate staff and not direct people. 

We are so excited about these two initiatives! Here is the list:

How do you feel about this? What does your organization or ministry implement to remove these barriers?