Earlier today I was watching Greg Stier’s free Evangephobia webinar (which was really good and super-fun, by the way — you should definitely register for one of the next ones on June 28 or August 9). In the embedded Facebook chat, one youth worker said, “Love it that this got me out of staff meeting today!” Unfortunately, I totally know that feeling. Why are church staff meetings often so dreaded, especially by youth workers?

As a guy who’s talking with churches about potential youth ministry positions, one question I like to ask is, “Tell me about your staff meetings.” Pastors and search committees usually pause for a second because it’s an unusual question, but I ask it for this reason: how a church spends its time in staff meeting reflects its true values.

The values that are often communicated in staff meeting by calendars and “busyness reports” are not usually values that are shared by youth workers, so we grow to tolerate them as a necessary evil. I’m not convinced it needs to be that way, though.

QUESTION: If you were in charge of your church’s staff meeting each week, how would your values determine how you spend that time together?

Posted on May 17, 2011