How Sidekicks can help grow your ministry

A term I hear a lot in ministry is Lone Ranger. This is a term in ministry not to point people to the fictional cowboy but meaning we are alone doing ministry. When someone says that you are being a “lone ranger” it means that you are not having other people come alongside of us.

Now, there is probably parts of us that glorifies being a Long Ranger. We can do it all by ourselves. While some of that may be true, the reality is that everyone needs some help. The Lone Ranger needed Tonto.  Heck, even Han Solo needed Chewbacca.

So why do we spend so much time being a Lone Ranger and not bringing people along side with us?

Here’s what happens when you try to go at it alone:

1. If/when you leave your current ministry there is no one to step up or in to help carry the torch until a replacement is found.
2. If/when you leave your current ministry all the leaders won’t know what to do because they have never been trained to do it. You always used to do everything.
3. You can only reach so many people by yourself. Therefore, not everyone who needs so invested in does and they either lose connection and fade away or never fully engage in all that God has for them
4. You have too many plates you are juggling trying to reach people while also doing admin while also planning and strategizing. Ultimately a plate gets dropped and details are missed and activities/next step process are not as excellent as they can be.  Thus there are miss opportunities.
5. If/when you encounter a tough time in your life or a life change and maybe have to step aside for sometime, you have no one to maintain the ministry.

Are you seeing the trend here? Nothing good happens when you go at ministry alone. So why set God’s ministry up for failure? That’s right, you read right…this is God’s ministry…not yours. Because this is ultimately the Lord’s ministry that you have been entrusted to for a season, that carries even more weight to bring people alongside of you.  You need sidekicks.

But Tom, I don’t have people at my church to help!

Oh yes you do!  You have mature students, “hip” parents or adults, not do hip parents or adults just to name a few.  And they can be used in so many great ways. For instance, I have utilized all these people over the years in a variety of different roles and help with ministry:

• Volunteer leaders who do hands on, incarnational ministry with teens and adults. They are going to where the people are and ministering to them as Christ did.
• Parent Coordinator.  Who listens to parents the most?  Other parents!  As influential as you may be in your ministry, having another parent speak kindly and share about things happening in your ministry to other parents is always more impactful. That is why a parent coordinator is invaluable.
• Chat Hosts for an online campus.  They may not be the most sociable person in person, but online they can be very sociable and interactive.
• Behind the scenes work. This is probably one of the most important things your ministry sidekicks can do

These are just some the things your sidekicks can do. Ministry is tough enough as it is. And, if you are doing it all alone, it is even harder. That is why it is so important to surround yourself with others. You may not think you have a lot of possibilities to bring others around you to help you, but you have to think outside the box. What roles can someone play for you and take that burden off your back? Where are you weak that others can come along side you and be strong?

When you have sidekicks come along side of you, not only will YOU benefit but God’s ministry will benefit and grow because of it.

What do you think? How have you seen sidekicks help grow and support the ministry? Share your thoughts and examples below or on social media using #ymsidekick.