Wearing too many hats in your church? Avoid burnout with these 4 tips…
At times it can be overwhelming to keep track of all the things you’re doing in ministry. Summer is a great time to step back and examine which hats you should, and shouldn’t, be wearing.
1. Do the things only you can do.
Determine the things you do well and the things that may allow others to use their gifts. Delegation is key. The best use of your time to avoid burnout is to serve in your area of giftedness and release others to do what they’re good at.
2. Give up the expectation to know everything.
You don’t need to know everything about every ministry. Trying to keep up with ongoing project plans only clutters your mind and hinders your ability to focus on what you need to do. Create ministry teams to handle the details, and let them move things forward.
3. Ask for team communication.
Establish in advance which types of situations or decisions require your involvement. Otherwise, you may end up wasting time on unnecessary phone calls, emails, or text messages. Schedule time to touch base with team members to stay in the loop.
4. Define ministry roles often.
Redefine your roles and responsibilities on a regular basis. Just because you bought the food for the youth lock-in last year doesn’t mean you’ve taken on that responsibility for life. Update position descriptions to reflect current roles—starting with your own. Redirect tasks that are more aligned to other positions.
Still wearing too many hats? Power up your ministry with empowered people! Identify someone at your church who would be a good fit, and ask them to try one on. Coach them in their new volunteer role. You’ve just multiplied ministry—and taken off one of your ministry hats. Feels so good!