How to Develop a Missions Leadership Team

Churches that have a missions leadership team or committee provide a great opportunity to involve members of the church in the global missions. This resource will explain why your church should have a missions leadership team, how they can complement your leadership style as a missions leader, the potential roles that are found on the team, how to work with an existing team and make it better, and what to do in your team meetings. 

Many churches have teams or committees that provide leadership to areas of ministry in the church. Whether this structure exists in your church or not, developing a team of people that help carry the responsibility of global missions is a really helpful way to expand your church’s global missions vision. It also involves even more members of the church in that vision.

Why a Missions Leadership Team?

At Upstream we firmly believe that missions should not be outsourced to a missions organization or one leader in the church. The vision of our Sending Church Element #5, Involving the Entire Church, is centered on missions being something in which everyone in the church plays a role. A great way to begin implementing the values of Element #5 is by developing a missions leadership team that has real responsibility for moving forward the global missions vision of the church. 

In Acts 6 the apostles worked through a theological issue (disagreement between Jews and Helenists) and a practical issue (the distribution of food) by delegating responsibility to others so they could stay focused on the expansion of the gospel. This example in Scripture forms the foundation for the office of “deacon” or “servant leaders” in the life of the church. 

A missions leadership team can carry out a similar role by providing a way for a group of people with real, empowered responsibility to execute the global vision of the church. While we as leaders will do a lot of the work of ministry ourselves, we also need to consider how we can “equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:11–13). A missions leadership team is a great structure by which we can do this.

You may, at this point, need to have a conversation with your executive pastor or leadership team to see how a missions leadership team best fits within the current structure and identity of the church. It would be unhelpful to you and to the church if this structure was at odds with your church structure.

The fact that the New Testament calls the church the “body of Christ” also reminds us that one leader does not represent the plurality of giftings and voices that is needed for global missions to thrive. Having a healthy missions team with complementary giftings is vital for the healthy movement of the global vision of the church.

Types of Missions Leaders

In light of that last point, as a missions leader it is important to take stock of what strengths you bring to the table and what strengths and giftings should complement who you are as a missions leader. A sister organization to Upstream, Catalyst Services, has a great article titled “What’s Your Missions Pastor Profile?” The goal of this document is to help missions leaders understand their leadership style and to help them build a missions team with complementary members around them. 

Take a look at the following descriptions of missions team leaders from the article and decide which one(s) you are:

1. The Strategic Visionary - This missions leader develops visionary plans, but is sometimes drained by the details. 

2. The Administrator - This type of missions leader builds on already developed plans and strategies and executes them excellently. However, they can sometimes struggle with creating excitement.

3. The Missionary’s Pastor - This type of mission leader loves to focus on care of sent ones. While they are great shepherds, they may lack the ability to develop a strategy.

4. The Mentor/Mobilizer - This type of missions leader loves to help members become effective in their global outreach. As they build relationships with missionaries, however, difficult decisions may be hard for them.

5. The Field Leader/Partnership Developer - This type of missions leader may find their employment in your church, but their heart is on the front lines of global missions. Field-focused leaders may struggle to bring the members of a church to where their heart is on the field.

Which profile best describes you? Based on that profile, make a list of all the areas of responsibility that fall within your purview. Mark each as either a strength or weakness for you. Mark each responsibility either as something you have to do or as something you can delegate to others. 

There is great freedom in self-awareness and understanding the role of the body of Christ in carrying out your church’s vision. Lean into these realities as you build your team.

Roles of a Missions Leadership Team Member

As you begin to gather a missions team, there are a few qualifications that you should look for in a missions team member:

1. Theologically versed in global missions (or willing to be)

2. Already involved in global missions in some capacity

3. Can care well for missionaries

4. Has a unique gifting they bring to the team that complements your leadership style

There are many ways to break down the roles of a missions team leader. It will be important for you to determine what roles your church needs. We would encourage you to think of each member of the missions leadership team as having two general responsibilities:

1. Missionary Care - Some aspect of the care and support of a missionary or partner

2. Missions Team Role - A specific role that utilizes their gift mix in the furthering of your global missions vision

1) Missionary Care

It is important and valuable for each member of the missions leadership team to have a direct connection with missionaries that are sent from your church. Each missions team member needs to have a front row seat to what missionaries are going through every day. Responsibilities for missionary care could include:

• Having a monthly video call with the missionary unit

• Bringing prayer needs for that missionary to their small group or an advocacy team

• Understanding what the church is giving to that missionary unit financially and advocating for their needs

• Working with the church missions leader when it is observed that the missionary is struggling

• Helping that missionary unit while on furlough to have their physical needs met, find fellowship, and speak back to the church about what God is doing in their life and ministry

2) Specific Roles

From there, it is likely that each team member can provide an area of expertise to the missions leadership team. In the list of items that are underneath your purview and responsibility, you should have noted which ones are strengths or weaknesses and ones that should be under your role or should be delegated to others. These delegated items should help you determine what roles to fill in a missions leadership team. They include:

• Communication - Oversees what is communicated electronically to the church

• Teacher - Teaches on global missions in equipping classes or in small group contexts

• Prayer - Leads prayer meetings and/or coordinates praying for missionaries with the church

• Local cross-cultural ministry - Leads in helping church members connect with local cross-cultural opportunities

• Sending Process - Involved in identifying, assessing and developing long-term missionaries

• Consulting - Is a strong and trusted voice that helps make decisions about the global missions efforts of the church

• Finances - Oversees the budget and makes recommendations of changes to the budget to reflect the values and the vision of the church

• Short-Term Trip Logistics - Oversees all aspects of short-term trips, including promotion, training, and logistics; enlists the help of others as needed

• Short-Term Trip Training and Debrief - Leads the trainings and debriefings for short-term trips

• Church Leader - Having someone with an official role in decision-making church leadership (elder, deacon, etc.) who is an advocate for global missions with the church’s primary leadership team is really helpful.

In each of these roles, you may not, as a missions leader, be able to fully delegate all aspects of the role to a missions team member. Even if it’s not in your strength, if you are on staff, or have an official position in the church to lead the missions ministry, you may still need to play a role in many of these areas of leadership. However, giving a church member one of these roles allows you someone to collaborate with and empower to do aspects of the role that you do not have time for.

Take a moment to write down the names of the existing missions team members and/or those you would like to talk to about joining the missions team.

Healthy and Unhealthy Missions Teams

Many missions leaders will inherit a missions team when they come into their role. If you have an existing team, you will likely need to take stock of what is healthy and unhealthy about that team. Here are some examples of healthy and unhealthy teams:

Healthy Missions Teams

1. There is an elder representation (or a decision-making leader) on the team.

2. The team is conversant on missiological issues.

3. The team has developed or is conversant in the church’s global missions vision and strategy.

4. Each team member has a role.

5. There are rotations on and off the team. Having a rotation 1) gives members a break; 2) keeps the team from becoming an exclusive club; 3) brings in fresh ideas; and 4) keeps the “next member up” principle always on the mind of your team.

6. They show creativity and a willingness to take risks as trust continues to grow. 

Unhealthy Missions Teams

1. There is not a clear leader. 

2. Members only advocate for their preferred project or organization.

3. Everyone does everything. There are no roles for the team members.

4. Team members have unspoken disagreements.

5. They view themselves as an exclusive group.

6. They are not an active team. They come together to make decisions but do not proactively help the global missions vision of the church.

More often than not, you will have to deal with some unhealthy aspects of a missions team. As a leader, it will be your responsibility to improve the health of this team.

Ways to Make an Existing Team Healthier

If your missions team is at an unhealthy place or simply could improve, there are some important steps to take:

First, has the team’s role traditionally been more focused on making decisions about the missions finances than on implementing the missions vision? The vast majority of missions teams are simply financial decision-makers. If this is the case, then an important way to move toward health is to redefine the role of the missions team so they are active in implementation as well. Consider having two to three people who are in charge of financial decision-making rather than the whole missions team.

As you look to redefine the purpose of a missions team, utilize books or curriculum that help members of the missions leadership team better understand where you want to go with global missions. Some resources to consider might include:

1. The Sending Church Defined by Bradley Bell - For understanding the definition of a sending church

2. The Sending Church Applied by the Upstream team - For a holistic and practical understanding of being a healthy sending church

3. Holding the Rope by Ryan Martin - Missionary care strategies.

4. You Are Sent by Nathan Sloan - Defining the sentness of every member of the church

5. Gaining By Losing by J.D. Greear - Why sending is valuable for the kingdom and for your church

6. God’s Heart for the Nations by Jeff Lewis - A healthy understanding of global missions

You could also walk through some exercises with your team that help give voice to their thoughts and philosophies regarding global missions as you execute the global missions vision. This is a great place to use some of Upstream’s resources!

Renewing an unhealthy missions leadership team takes time. Don’t be surprised if it takes a year of meetings to change the culture of a team.

Missions Team Meetings

Having monthly meetings with the broader missions team is a great place to start as you create your own mission team. You may consider having more frequent meetings with some of the individual roles that have greater responsibility.

Here are some areas that could regularly be covered in a missions team meeting. It may be good to focus in on two or three of these areas for each meeting, as it could be challenging and repetitive to go through all four areas every time you meet:

1. Education - Train them in global missions through a book or article relevant to an emerging global missions idea.

2. Updates and Advocacy of Missionaries - Missions team members can share major needs of their missionaries, including prayer, shepherding issues, financial challenges, strategic changes, or updates on trips to that location.

3. Updates from the Vision and Strategy - Discuss any changes to major areas of vision and strategy in global missions. This team needs to be aware of those changes.

4. Decision-Making - Discuss and approve global missions-related decisions that have been delegated to the group.

Conclusion

A missions leadership team provides a great pathway for involving the entire church in missions. While it might be easier for a missions leader to run with global missions themselves, it ultimately will not be as effective without the plurality of voices and the shared responsibility that a mission team brings. It takes work to create a missions leadership team, but the benefit to the local church will ultimately be far greater!

Next Steps

The journey toward sending well happens one step at a time. Here are three ways you can continue moving upstream:

1. Download our  “Worksheet for Developing a Missions Team” to apply the principles from this resource to your church context.

2. Read “Reimagining Your Missions Team” by Ellen Livingood and Catalyst Services for another great resource on missions leadership teams.

3. Listen to the Upstream training, “Developing a Missions Leadership Team Audio Training” by Debbie Stephens and Ellen Livingood