This is Kerrick Thomas – and for the last 12 years I’ve served alongside of Nelson Searcy as Executive Pastor of The Journey Church. I’m guest blogging today and would like to talk to you about the power of the All Staff Meeting.

Every week in churches across America, staff members sludge off into the weekly staff meeting, dreading the monotony and irrelevance of what is about to happen. Either the meeting goes on way too long or the meeting covers every topic under the sun, including several that have no relevance to you, or to a number of other people in the room. A lot of people feel like their time is being wasted.

Since meetings like this often have no direction, people start to get bored. This demotivates the entire team. In fact, I’ve heard people say “I feel like we leave our weekly staff meeting just a little bit dumber than when I walked in.” This is not the response you’re going for.

Your initial reaction may be to just cancel all the meetings and avoid the whole mess. Don’t do that! By cancelling these meetings, you’ll lose out on the time where your staff pulls together, which will create problems you’ll have to deal with later on.

By having everyone come together for an all staff meeting you’ll:

• Have everyone together to cast vision
• Have everyone on the same page
• Be able to rally and motivate the troops
• Be able to share what God is doing in the church and celebrate Kingdom victories
• Have the chance to communicate the how and why of the most pressing upcoming events

Here are some key principles to make sure your all staff meeting is successful:

• Keep your all staff meeting short and energetic. Aim to keep it no longer than 15- 20 minutes.
• Schedule the meeting for early in the week.
• Focus on broad areas that affect everyone who would attend the meeting. Make it relevant for everyone.

If you can think through the strategy and prepare, meetings can be the playground for champions. They can help take your church to the next level.Your partner in ministry,

Kerrick

P.S. – I have a resource where I cover this and go in depth on the 12 types of meetings and how they can be used in creative ways.

Click here to transform the dreaded meeting into a true playground for champions!

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.