I have been thinking of staffing for the local church. I have observed the normal pattern in most churches which focuses upon age group ministries relevant to a church's perceived need. I have read books which suggest that staffing should be more functional focused, specifically related to alleviating the load carried by the senior pastor. In both cases, there is a formulaic method to determine how many people in a congregation it takes to support the addition of a staff member.

I want to suggest another model. In this model Ephesians 4:11,12 is recognized as a guiding principle, especially, "to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up."(v.12) The primary focus of this model is to hire a "Volunteer Coordinator" whose role is to facilitate the identification, training and insertion of volunteers into ministry positions within the local congregation. The Volunteer Coordinator seeks to purposefully affect the usually perceived ratio of those who are actively involved in ministry (20% do 80% of the work) by actively getting more people involved in ministry, preferably within their spiritual gifting.

What do you think?

I would define leadership as: " the expressed guidance, decision, or action which is compelled by nature in the face of need, to accomplish a desired end." I know there are those who say that leadership demands followers but I would disagree. I believe that we either choose to lead ourselves, or fail to do so, resulting in an unfulfilled potential. While leadership can be broadly understood to apply to groups of any size, it starts within the individual.

The old saying is that "nature abhors a vacuum," meaning that when there is the absence of air, nature itself will do everything in its power to fill that void. I truly see this in relationship to leadership. In every situation there is a need for leadership . . . and in every situation someone always chooses to express guidance, make a decision or take action, however badly they may do so. It is not always good leadership which steps to the front - but there will always be some kind of leadership. It is a part of how God has designed the world and us.

Further, although it is nature which compels the void to be filled, it is our education and experiences which equip us to effectively provide leadership. We can learn the principles of leading and become adept at exercising those skills for the effective leadership.

It may be that we choose to allow others to lead in group situations but we cannot ignore the need in our own life to take responsibility and initiative (the major components of leadership). Even when we allow others to lead, there comes a time and a place where we have to add our influence to the process and thereby express leadership.