Families are a huge part of every church, yet often church leaders behave like that isn’t the case. Margaret Spicer leads the Next Gen ministry from Crossway Church in Melbourne, Australia—Australia’s largest Baptist church. She talks about how she got kids, parents and students to become a church wide priority in a way senior leaders love.
Welcome to Episode 176 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Guest Links
margaret.spicer@crossway.org.au | crossway.org.au | thinkorange.org.au
Links Mentioned
Rethink Leadership in Atlanta Georgia, April 25-27th 2018
GLS Plus at Willow Creek, Australia, May 7th & May 8th, 2018
Leadership Worx: Carey Nieuwhof in New Zealand, May13-17, 2018
The Canadian Church Leaders Conference, Barrie Ontario, June 14-16th 2018
TrainedUp Use coupon code CAREY for 10% off for life!
3 Insights from This Episode
1. Get senior leaders to hear you by being prepared for your time in front of them
- Build a Relationship: You are best heard when a healthy relationship exists.
- Speak in the Senior Leader’s Language: Be clearly understood by speaking about what matters most to your senior leader. Find ways to show how your needs will positively impact those priorities.
- Be Solution Focused: Lead with observations you see in the areas needing attention and provide a well thought out plan to improve it.
- Invite Leadership into Your Ministry: Give leadership an insider view of your world, so they can see first hand what you’re doing and your team can feel their support.
2. If volunteers don’t feel needed they won’t stick around
Volunteers give of their time because they want to be a part of something that matters. If they don’t feel needed or involved in something that’s greater than them, often they’ll leave and devote their free time to something else.
Put a strategy behind developing your volunteers that includes measuring what it looks like for each volunteer to grow in their roles. Having a mutual plan in place offers an opportunity for them to take ownership of the responsibilities – with your guidance – and can build a stronger momentum to further your ministry.
3. When children and student ministry partner together it provides a better experience for families
As a child gets older, moving up to the next age group in church can be intimidating for a family. Especially if the ministry areas are managed without a unified, strategic plan to ease the transition.
Offering a curriculum that can grow with youth from preschool through high school not only relieves stress on the child, it provides a consistent, age-appropriate guide to help families navigate all the stages of parenting.
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 176: Margaret Spicer on How to Get Next Gen Onto a Senior Leader’s Agenda and Making Families a Church Wide Mission Click To Tweet CNLP 176: Margaret Spicer on How to Get Next Gen Onto a Senior Leader’s Agenda and Making Families a Church Wide Mission Click To Tweet CNLP 176: Margaret Spicer on How to Get Next Gen Onto a Senior Leader’s Agenda and Making Families a Church Wide Mission Click To Tweet CNLP 176: Margaret Spicer on How to Get Next Gen Onto a Senior Leader’s Agenda and Making Families a Church Wide Mission Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning
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Next Episode: Todd Adkins & Eric Geiger
So many leaders believe things about themselves and about leadership that simply aren’t true. Carey joins up with Todd Adkins and Eric Geiger from the 5LQ Leadership podcast for a co-broadcast of a special episode where the three of them tackle some key lies leaders fall for again and again.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 177.
