Getting Started: Growing a healthy Vine Project Team culture
An interview with Col Marshall
What’s the key to a healthy team culture?
If I had to identify the key, I’d say it’s getting the aim crystal clear. Everything seems to flow from that.
So what’s the aim of a Vine Project Team?
To make more disciples of Jesus. That’s the simplest way of putting it. That’s what we mean by seeking to shift the whole culture of our church in the direction of disciple-making. And making more disciples starts with maturing the existing disciples. So after a year or two or three we will ask: are we making more mature disciples of Jesus? That is a measurable aim. That is a godly, biblical aim. That is the most important goal we could have.
What alternative aims would be inadequate or unproductive?
I hear people talking about ‘doing church better’ or becoming an engaged church or a contextualized church or some kind of church. These church characteristics may be important but at the end of the day, God is gathering a redeemed people around his Son for all eternity. That’s the aim. It’s not just about numbers, but it is about numbers, one individual after another being called into this gathering of Jesus. It’s about Christ building his church.
If that’s our aim, to make more disciples, how does that effect team culture?
We’ll pray like crazy. We know only God gives the fruit. We’re desperately weak. It drives us to repentance, to be instruments the Master can use, holy. If you’re not wrestling with theology, weeping over the lost, committing to the way of the cross and willing to sacrifice every sacred cow, you’ve missed the point.
What will stop that kind of culture growing?
If the team leader – usually a pastor – cannot be open and honest, the team might slavishly work through the five phases, but it will have no soul. It’s about intimacy, credibility, trust and godly discontentment with the status quo. Change is an inside out process. As leaders ask God to change their own lives, their ability to lead church –wide transformation grows. We change churches by changing people, starting with us. If pastors are not openly being transformed by God’s word, why should we expect teams or churches to change?
But some pastors will find this kind of openness quite foreign.
Yes, we are used to having answers and being in control as teachers and counselors. But this VP team is made up of our friends and compatriots in the ministry. This is the place to come out from behind the façade and let our guard down. It’s not the place for bravado and unreal optimism about how well things are going. It’s healthy for the pastor to talk about his disappointments and failures, together with a prayerful confidence that Christ will build his church even through our weakness. It’s crucial that pastors and leaders do not present as superheroes, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. One of the roadblocks to growth is the pastor who tries to be omnicompetent rather than relying on the gifts of the body.
What other things should characterize the tone of the team?
It all flows from the disciple-making goal. We will value each individual on the team and their contribution. We will listen well to each other. We need to cultivate a constructive tone rather than a critical, narky mood. There will necessarily be times of forgiveness and restoring relationships along the way. We will lead the team the way we lead the church toward maturity.
What about standards and expectations?
If your VP Team is sloppy and doesn’t function effectively, that probably reflects what the whole church looks like. Agree early on about commitments, preparation and the priority of the team. If the leader is running meetings off the back of an envelope, that example will devalue the whole thing. Everything will be done at a minimal level. Team members are giving a lot of time and effort and each meeting needs to be worthwhile.
What about confidentiality?
One of the fastest ways to kill a VP team will be breaking confidentiality or the airing of disagreement around decisions. I reckon having a high degree of confidence in this character trait is a not negotiable for team selection and behaviour.
So feedback from team members will be crucial?
Yes, keep asking them what’s working and what’s not, so that negatives get aired and the whole experience is motivating and energizing. Team members will have wisdom on how to make the team operate well. Team leaders will need to be non-defensive.
So what you’re saying is that the culture of these Vine Project Teams should infect all ministry teams and groups across the church.
Yes, the way you run this Vine Project Team is actually shaping the church culture. It’s a model of ‘how we do things around here’.