If you have participated in a ministry start-up you have no doubt experienced a sense of powerlessness and the reality that you have little to no control over the ministry experience a new person senses.
One specific way to start a new ministry culture that represents your mission, vision and values is to create friction points that force people to take a step of faith or commitment.
Think about your favorite coffee shop: it's extremely inviting and easy to enter, but the coffee is expensive. The coffee shop sets the friction point around it's most desirable product--the coffee. The principle applies to ministry as well: Create a high barrier to entry around your most desirable product (which is usually a leadership position).
Ministry Example:
A large group of people on a leadership team who do not live out the mission, vision, and values but heavily influence the overall culture.
Friction Point:
Require the entire leadership team to frequently participate in an activity that models the mission, vision, and values tangibly to newer members. It could be community service, evangelism, connecting new members, etc.
Rather than making it an "us against them" power struggle intentional friction points cause unaligned members to select themselves out of the ministry, and allows aligned students opportunities to demonstrate their faith and belief in your ministry.
A lack of intentional friction points usually leads to an identity-less ministry--it's usually a group of really nice people who have no idea where they are going and why they do the things they do.
Have you seen any healthy friction points in ministry that have increased alignment and commitment? I'd love to hear them and I'm sure the other readers would benefit from your experiences!
photo courtesy of craftygoat
