Six reasons you need a leadership team for your young adult ministry

In our work helping churches start college and young adult ministries over the last decade, we’ve seen dozens of ministries that thrive while a specific point leader is present, only to collapse when that person moves on (usually the move is for great, God-led reasons). 

While there are times for ministry to end, our heart is to see college and young adult ministries that thrive and have a lasting impact. For that to happen requires a team of leaders, not just a single leader, even if the ministry is their full time job. 

Defining team

What do we mean by a team? Generally, a leadership team is a group of 2-7 people in addition to the point leader. We say at least two people in addition to the point leader because two don’t make a team, (but it’s better than flying solo!) and up to seven because more than 8 gets unwieldy. 

This group must be people who have taken ownership, bear responsibility, and have clear roles within the ministry. They should meet regularly to learn, pray, and plan together. We get into more detail about what exactly a team looks like, how to identify potential leaders, and how to develop them in the trainings that we do with our Partner ministries. 

But first, why a team? Here are six of what we believe are the most important reasons:

Six Reasons you need a leadership team for your college ministry

1. If Jesus did it, you should too

Jesus was the son of God and the image of what humanity perfected should look like. His ministry method should be the model for ours. Jesus clearly worked to develop a team of leaders who would join him in ministry and carry on the work when he was gone. If Jesus did it, you should too.

2. Community is central to the Gospel

At the outset of creation God makes it clear that humans are not meant to operate on our own when he states that “It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen. 2:18). God intends for humans to be in relationship with each other and with him, doubly emphasized by all the “one another” commands throughout the New Testament.  

If we believe that community and relationships are key to the Gospel then the structure of our leadership should affirm that belief. If we say community is important but lead solo, our actions disagree with our words. We need to intentionally shape how we do what we do so that it aligns with truth, and that includes operating with a team of leaders as an affirmation of the need for community.

3. Working in a team makes it not about you

If you’re a skilled leader and communicator with some charisma it’s probably not hard for you to gather a group of people together and captivate a crowd. Or maybe you’re more of a behind-the-scenes, work-harder-than-everyone-else kind of leader who draws others through their faithful moral authority and influence. Regardless of your bent, there’s an incredible tendency for people to make the ministry about you when you’re leading solo. Even if you’re working hard to prevent it, solo leaders can easily become people’s connection to God rather than them going directly to Jesus.

Working in a team prevents that. When there is a group of people who own the leadership of the ministry in a visible way it communicates to everyone that there’s no one with special access to God or special power to make things happen. And on top of that, it doesn’t matter how awesome you are, you’re not gifted enough to lead alone.

4. You’re not gifted enough to lead alone

Jesus calls his followers his body. The Apostle Paul expands on this in his epistles, making explicit the idea that every member of the body of Christ has unique gifts and callings that need to work together to build one another up into maturity (Eph 4:12).

No one individual can accurately represent Jesus effectively. No one leader can effectively lead a ministry to fully reflecting what God has called it to be. We need a team of people with a variety of giftings, personalities, and skills to do all that must be done and fully represent God’s goodness. With that wider array of giftings a team can accomplish far more than any one person could.

5. Teams can do more than individuals

Hopefully this is self evident, but it bears mentioning because most leaders tend to function as if we believe that we can get more done than a group of people would. In some cases that may be true – it takes more work to train up others to do something than to do it yourself. However, in the long run a healthy, functional team where people are living into their giftings and strengths will have exponentially greater impact than an individual leader could ever have.

Don’t limit the effectiveness of your ministry by trying to make it happen on your own. And don’t limit it’s lifespan.

6. Teams last longer than individuals

This point is particularly relevant in young adult ministry. Young adults are one of the most transient demographics as they move from home to college and from single to married and from one career to another and one city to the next. We’ve seen many ministry thrive for a year only to disappear the next because the charismatic point leader changed jobs or got married and changed priorities or a dozen other thoroughly legitimate reasons.

When a ministry has a team of leaders who are all owning the mission and have a passion for the work, that team will long outlast any individual leader. This is particularly when the team is properly equipped and able to naturally train up people to take the place of those who will inevitably move on.

Why this matters

Here’s the bottom line: you need a team of leaders for your young adult ministry. If you don’t have one, now’s the time to start working towards developing one. Or maybe you have a group of “leaders” who in reality just give their input and then leave the work to you. Or maybe you have a group of people who will happily do the work that you tell them to do but aren’t taking ownership and carrying the ministry forward. In any of those cases, you have an amazing opportunity to grow into a place where you truly have a leadership team.

Want some help as you begin to disciple and develop that leadership team? Shoot us a message - we love helping leaders like you reach and disciple college students and young adults. 

May God bless you and your ministry as you pursue Him in the process!