Creating an equipping culture doesn’t just happen. The process must be intentional and ongoing. There are four basic steps to create a church culture that encourages people to serve.<\/p>\n
1. Assess<\/strong> 2. Formulate the vision<\/strong> 3. Model Values<\/strong>
\nA church mission or purpose statement helps set the culture by providing overall direction and focus. It can be used to assess the current culture and steps needed to make change. Other places to assess church culture would be the budget, program and staff emphasis, and the calendar\u2014what consumes your time. So ask: What do we say? What do we do? Is there alignment or conflict? \u00a0Assess if your church culture is on track with the purpose you want to achieve.<\/p>\n
\nAlways start with the end goal in mind. You might ask these questions: What would vision completion look like in the end game? What systems would need to be in place to get there? If your ministry truly operated as an Ephesians 4 church, what would you see? \u00a0How would your church impact its community once your equipping ministry culture and systems have been implemented?<\/p>\n
\nIt’s important to understand that equipping must be embedded as a core value of the church. It can\u2019t be relegated to a new program in ministry. If it\u2019s just a \u201cprogram\u201d you will set yourself up for failure. Programs come and go, but values are what sustain the church. They become the DNA of the culture.\u00a0So, what are the values of an equipping church?
\n\u2022 Prayer
\n\u2022 Gift-based involvement of every Christian
\n\u2022 Servant leadership
\n\u2022 Team ministry
\n\u2022 Intentionality
\n\u2022 Proactive toward change<\/p>\n