I think I'll Give My Job Away

by Tim Swanson

The other day a friend told me that his wife had been hired to lead worship part time at a local church. She is in her early 20's, and this would be her first paid worship leader role. He seemed proud of her as he described her excitement over the new opportunity. He told me that the church was looking to her to "update", their repertoire.

A few weeks later I ran into my good friend again and asked him how things were going for his wife. His pride was no longer evident. Instead he looked concerned. He told me that when she got to her  first rehearsal with her new team it became evident that the church's administration had not informed anyone that they were bringing in a new leader. The praise team was under the impression that she was just a new singer. He described her frustration as she tried to lead rehearsal and introduce new music. She left her first rehearsal feeling confused and defeated.

Church leadership can be tricky. Volunteer and paid roles often have a high turnover rate. So it’s easy for leaders to spend more time searching for volunteers than they spend training the people they have. Often this results in poor communication, and unclear boundaries for new personnel. And that gets really frustrating really fast. I have seen so many church workers excited by a new service role, then months or even weeks later they're ready to quit. Not because the work is too hard, but because of aggravation from miscommunication about responsibilities and boundaries. They don't understand what they're supposed to do and not do.

When I first began working at Moon Valley Bible Church, my goal was (and still is) to help people realize their potential as musicians, leaders and Christ followers. So it is important to me to keep people from landing in communication blind spots. I want each person to have a clear picture of what is expected of them and the parameters of their role. When I describe someone’s role to them, I will often outline the unavoidable connection between responsibility and authority. The way I see it, if I am going to hold someone responsible to accomplish a task, they should also have the authority to get it done. One good example is in the auditorium on Sunday mornings. I tell my audio engineers that the buck stops with them when it comes to sound. I try to further affirm them by acknowledging their authority over the sound in the auditorium in front of the praise team. If the sound person asks my electric guitarist to play quieter, I’ll always back him up. The sound person has the responsibility of providing an excellent mix on Sunday morning so he or she should also have the authority to get the job done.

The result of this kind of approach is that, unlike a lot of churches, my Technical Director has to be selective about who he allows to run the sound board for our services. He has to have people that he can trust. So I have also given my Technical Director the authority to determine who is involved in his team and who isn't. I like to give away little bits of my job like that. Sure it can be scary at times because at the end of the day, I am still the one responsible for every area of my job. But by giving people that kind of trust, they are afforded the opportunity to rise to the occasion. People tend to treat responsibility differently when they feel the weight of it. I like that. I have no qualms with taking a little heat for a volunteer’s mistake if it means there’s an opportunity for a learning experience. By giving delegating responsibility and authority I get to have the distinguished privilege of being involved in people’s growth. And that’s exciting.