I need some input. My dh and I are pastoring a new plant and it is going well, we are almost at our 1st year anniversary. We have started assimilating our co-signers (that is what we call members). As Craig and I prayed, God gave us a strategy for assimilation called, "The Power of Three." Basically, we have divided up all of the ministry areas into three "foundational" columns, Service, Core Development, and Ministry Training. The only ministry area NOT included in one of these three columns is Worship Arts (we believe EVERYONE is a worshipper and that we all need to incorporate an area of worship arts in their life.). Each co-signer attended a Dessert 'n Destiny meeting with dh and me. At that meeting we prayed, discussed, defined and determined a ministry placement in each foundational category for each co-signer.
I don't have time right now to really get into the meat of what The Power of Three is- but basically we've taken the number three which stands for the establishment of God's divine will and purpose and applied it to how ministry will function at WHOC. Each co-signer chooses one ministry from each foundational column to minister in. Each ministry is team led by ministry teams of AT LEAST three. No co-signer is allowed to be on more than three ministry teams; however, they are encouraged to support and help during events, projects, and outreaches. Craig and/or I oversee each ministry.
As time goes by, our prayer is that true leaders WILL rise to the top. As this happens, Craig and I after spending time pouring into and working with these teams will essentially work ourselves out and appoint a leader/lay minister/staff person.... or whatever. We are still in the conception stage of this. But, it IS working! So far we have assimilated almost every ministry.
BUT- I am having an issue! One lady, whom I LOVE to pieces-, seems to be having trouble focusing on HER area(s)! She has the biggest and best heart out of anyone you will meet- BUT she can't seem to focus on her stuff! She is one of the people we were thinking about when we developed this strategy. Because she seems to be "trigger happy" we thought if we gave her specific, focused targets that it would help. WRONG! See, before we began growing with people who were ready to work, everything fell on three families. Well, when this began to change, we developed this new strategy to distribute the work load. Sounds like a good idea, right?! Well, we took all of June and focused on "What is a Co-signer" and then concluded with The Power of Three. EVERYONE was excited.
However, this lady seems to be worried about everybody else's stuff- or in one case, she is trying to overstep the team process. THAT part I can deal with- I just say, "That definitely sounds like something the team should consider. Get all of the information together and I'll let you present your idea to the team at our next meeting." I just re-emphasize the fact that she is on a TEAM... and she responds favorably. But the other is different. For instance, on my Women of Purpose Ministry Team, I have six coordinators for my BIG SIX. Now, she used to try to dabble in doing them all- but was never a finisher at any- before I put a team in place. Well, I conducted a WOP Ministry Training Event which was extremely successfully and I filled all six positions, this lady was the last one. I kept asking her and she looked lost, then finally she stepped up and took the last coordinator spot. This spot is the coordination of one of our biggest outreach events, "Destiny's Closet" and also coordinates "Sista' Girlz," our girls night out events (which take place every other month). Well, she has come to me CONSTANTLY about other events and has approached others about their events/responsibilities trying to throw out possible scenarios and suggestions. I have TRIED to keep out of it and subtly suggest that these individuals have their areas under control and "how is yours?" She'll answer me vaguely, but is starting with things that are NOT priority! Ugh!
Please understand me; this has been HARD for me because I LIKE to be in control of things so they get done "right..." BUT, God has been working on this perfectionist attitude in me and I feel like He is winning- BUT things like this make me want to grab the reigns!
My husband has dubbed this as "Busy but Barren" syndrome. He says, "People are not barren (spiritually) because they are busy. They are busy because they are barren." They are producing nothing (fruit wise) so they try harder by getting busier. (He really has an awesome message on this!) Anyway, this describes this ladies life to a T! She is always going, doing, etc., etc. but where is the fruit? Where are the results?
It is starting to irritate some of the other people in the church and I am not sure how to snuff it out without offending or discouraging her.
It really sounds like you all have a plan of action which is awesome. I know that I don't know this woman or understand this situation. But here is what I was thinking while reading your post. There are people out there who are great visionaries. They are analytical & imaginative. They are problem solvers. They have great ideas, but they are not finishers. It's not that they are bad or mean to get involved in various areas, they just think big. The problem is, they lack the skills to put their vision in to place or they get their minds on so much, they have a hard time completing the task at hand. They see the overall picture & have trouble getting down to the details. I know because I can so be like this. I get so many ideas for things to do in the future that I must make myself stop & concentrate on the here & now. I think it's just the way some of us are wired.
So maybe this lady just hasn't found her niche in your system? Do you have a vision team? Sounds like she would be good to lead brainstorming sessions.... Perhaps helping to plan the general calendar -- whatever she can do to help w/ the big picture. Just use her God-given strengths.
This is why Ephesians 3:20 is so important to me. God wants to do more than I can imagine (and I can think BIG!) by HIS power at work in me. How awesome is that!
Are you wanting to know more of...what to do about her behavior, or how to handle people who are upset about it?
Have you had a heart to heart talk with her about the changes you are making and how you need her to acclimate that direction? Or have you just been gently steering her? Is she a more strident personality...will she give you a problem if you tell her point blank the change you need her to make? (As far as sticking to her own area.) Maybe she is just more clueless than rebellious? What do you sense?
I have someone at my church who keeps making the same mistake like this and driving me to the brink, as I like to say, but my dh says it's truly cluelessness and not rebellion. I have a hard time, however, believing anybody is THAT clueless but dh tells me, many people are.
Hard to believe everyone is not as brilliant as us, girls!
I really don't think it is intentional. She is very kind hearted and would so ANYTHING for anybody! Like I said before, I think she really doesn't know how to focus so she is trigger happy, she just shoots at anything and everything missing EVERY target altogether.
We have tried to have her in brainstorming sessions but she tends to go down rabbit trails. I really want to know how to help her and keep others patient and focused. As far as personality, she is "over the top" which is one of the things I love about her. However, she also OVER analyzes EVERYTHING! If we make changes or correction that even subtly affects her she gets paranoid and bent out of shape OR she'll try to OVER COMPENSATE by being busy- BUT BARREN!
UGH! As a very organized, somewhat methodical in my action planning person, it drives me CRAZY! I like order- I'm sorry, I can't help it!
This might help you understand too- I had my WM team fill out a packet that gave me insight on their Christian life, testimony, etc. It also asked what areas they would like to contribute to. Well, she checked EVERYTHING. Then, there was a gifting survey, not a long one, but one that would give me some insight. Anyway, she tied at 25 for SEVEN MAJOR GIFTS and did not score below 22 on anything else. the HIGHEST you could score on ANYTHING was 28... Now I know those tests are not GOSPEL- that is not why I was using them. However, they ended up being VERY insightful....
There is probably no easy, quick fix to this. But at this point I just want to know how to get through it!
You guys ARE cute! Now let me shock you all by telling you that she has SEVEN children- four are under the age of 4! She WAS in charge of the nursery but... well you already know my predicament!
I going to crack this case SOMEHOW with the MAJOR GUIDANCE of the Holy Spirit! There is just TOO much potential in her for her to be so scattered! Ya'll pray!
I can see why the woman can't finish anything. Lord knows my brain would be frazzled at best if I had 7 children! LOL
I just thought about a lady that I worked with when my dh had me doing some ministry development before with some leader who needed help. We would sit down and meet and plan out the objectives for the ministry, and then make master list of accomplishments for each ministry function/activity/whatever. This was essentially a checklist of the essential things that needed to be done. She would have to either confirm that she had delegated each item to a specified person within that ministry, or do it herself. She would than email or give me a copy of the list once a week during the weeks leading up to her functions so that I(and dh) could see how she was progressing. (Otherwise, she would wait until the week of to do everything. Which drove me crazy.) I also committed to pray for them regarding any issues they faced as they tried to improve as a leader as well as provide them with helpful resources or coaching from either me, or someone else who was better suited to help them in their particular area. I even had someone from another church who lead a very similar ministry to come and work with an individual one-on-one. They really appreciated the help. They had a lot of potential, but needed some strong positive influence.
It worked pretty well because she knew that if she didn't give me the list, then I would ask for it. She also knew that I reported to dh on everyone's progress. I only had to ask once. After that she slowly got on track.
would be frazzled at best if I had 7 children! LOL 
