Today’s pastors and congregational leaders often wonder whether going it alone is their best option for ministry. Yet, the notion of working closely with others and team ministry can elicit fear and confusion. The Teaming Church offers clear and thoughtful guidance about the how and why of team ministry. Serious study of this material will move leaders far ahead in their thinking and increase the chances that a robust and renewed ministry will result.
The foundational premise behind The Teaming Church is that the time in which we live requires one ministry skill, perhaps more than any other: cooperation. While growth-driven leaders focus on putting people to work, teaming leaders aim at getting people to work together.
“In a world where leaders had drawn triangles and hierarchies, Jesus came on the scene drawing circles: circles of honor, circles of teamwork, and circles of community” (12), writes author Robert C. Crosby, professor of practical theology at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. He then organizes his book in three sections: (1) Draw Your Circle: Creating a Team; (2) Teach Your Team to Draw Circles: The Teaming Technique; and (3) Circle Thinking: A Teaming Mind-Set.
Crosby presents what he calls “The Teaming Church Principle”: “To become a great team your group must have a deeply challenging goal, a creatively empowering leader, and a collaborative, biblically honoring community” (16). This principle incorporates four key components:
- The character: the right kind of people and practices on the team
- The carrot: the right kind of challenge
- The coach: the right kind of leader
- The community: the right kind of culture
The author develops in great detail each of these key components. He also addresses what he calls “The Four Fatal Teaming Errors” and how to avoid unnecessary, time-consuming missteps. He then discusses how a group can become a team, the DNA of a winning team, how to motivate a team, how to lead a team, and how to unleash team brilliance. The concept of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the Divine Team is discussed to illustrate how a teaming culture not only accomplishes the things God wants done but also reflects who God is.
This 179-page book comes packed with practical information that provides a wealth of ideas and instruction for pastors and church leaders. The book also provides biblical motivations; vivid examples; practical approaches for creating a teaming culture in any faith community; and transcripts of interviews of several lead pastors who have had success in forming teams in small, medium, and large churches.
The book is a good resource for leaders who wish to discover how relational networking and teamwork are the way forward for Christ’s kingdom in the twenty-first century.
—Reviewed by Raj Attiken, DMin, principal moderator, the Innovation Commons, and retired president of the Ohio Conference of Seventh-day Adventists headquartered in Mount Vernon, Ohio.