Ministry relationships can be challenging for anyone, including those of us who serve the church through technology. It can sometimes be especially difficult for church tech folks and senior pastors/elders/leaders to have healthy working relationships due to the drastic differences in function and mentality. Two of the most frequent symptoms of this are a lack of trust and poor communication, though most often these issues are merely symptoms of deeper problems. Assumptions about the use of technology in the church, or even a church's mission and vision can be underlying causes for each side to talk past one another while frustration builds and relationships are damaged. Another cause is the desire to please others, avoid conflict, or be praised. This can lead to false relationships and the dis-accomplishment of the mission/vision. Here are five suggestions to work against these things and help cultivate trust and communication
1) Know who you are serving under and be sure you have a high degree of agreement. Fundamental disagreements with senior leaders about the use of technology in the life of the church are a recipe for disaster. Therefore it is vital for anyone taking a leadership role in technical ministry to have complete knowledge of, and buy-in to the vision of the church. The typical hiring process used many churches can further complicate this. It is nearly impossible to get a true sense of how a church operates from an interview process. While the goal here is not to critique the hiring practices of churches, one can easily see advantages of "raising up from within" the members of the church those whom God is calling to serve in different capacities. Regardless, we should strive to be in fundamental agreement with the churches and leaders we serve on the big ideas and on those that pertain to our area of ministry.
2) Have a clear vision for how technology will be used to achieve the mission and vision of your church. Clarity of vision should be put in place early on in your ministry, though you should always be working to clarify it with the guidance of those who are leading you. To do this requires a clear and accurate understanding of the church's mission and vision without which technology can never play a healthy role, and technology leaders will quickly find their relationships with other leaders within the church strained. In order for the vision for technology to facilitate the vision of the church, technology leaders must constantly work to communicate with senior leaders on pastoral and vision-related issues and decisions. This builds trust through communication as it shows a desire to operate under the church's leadership and to be teachable. Additionally, this concept will work against the idea that technology in the church is merely a practical necessity, as leaders will see that important theological, pastoral, and stewardship questions are in play in technology ministry that truly affect the discipleship process of those serving as well as the congregation as a whole.
3) Help to create a culture where it is OK to admit mistakes. Problems, gaffes, errors, and slip-ups are a reality of life. The Bible teaches us to do all things as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 10:31), but nowhere does it teach that we are to going to be perfect in this life. In fact, it precisely because of our inability to obtain perfection that Christ came to restore humanity's relationship with God. While we must not confuse a grace-flavored environment with one in which there is no purpose, structure, and accountability, a lack of grace is essentially a lack of the gospel and will lead directly to a lack of trust. Model this for those you lead by taking responsibility for issues that are your responsibility, and those leading you will find that your integrity deserves trust and your communication facilitates the vision and mission of the church.
4) Create healthy avenues for senior leaders to give feedback. In many churches with full-time tech staff, technology is viewed by senior leaders as something "those folks down the hall" keep running, sometimes as a necessary "evil". The parallel in smaller churches is where the leaders either don't view technology as especially important, or they view it as something that will always lack quality due to limited funding. These mentalities result in un-healthy communication patterns that manifest themselves most pointedly when things go wrong. One way to proactively work against these problems is to communicate to the leaders of the church that you genuinely value their insight. This may seem like an invitation for meddling, but if trust is being built into the relationship, this will only build it stronger and faster. The key here is to create ways for communication that do not function as discouragement and sabotage - ie during the middle of a service. While sometimes there are urgent issues that must be dealt with in the moment, understanding your church's and leader's values will allow you to handle those things yourself. Consistent, always available means for communication provides the leaders of the church input over time and gives the technology leader an ongoing window into how he can serve and lead the church better. One example might be an invitation for Sunday afternoon emails (don't read until Monday!) or some other proprietary electronic means for the leaders to share their thoughts with you. In the long-term this facilitates trust greatly as it will create that intentional avenue for communication.
5) Practice trust-worthy decision making. Nothing causes a lack of trust more severely than repeated poor decisions. As such, decisions in which major purchases and expense, or vital pastoral issues are involved must be handled both well and openly. With regard to major pastoral issues, it is usually wise to invite a senior leader into the situation to check your thinking and to keep you accountable. Trust will blossom when it is obvious you do not want to operate as a maverick and that you value the thoughts, knowledge, opinions, and gifts of other leaders. Major purchases should be very well thought out. They should directly aid the vision of the church, and should also involve the input of other leaders. The value to you here is that you get a wider perspective while communicating your desire to operate as part of the team. Bringing in outside help, such as a consultant, will also improve your perspective and give further credibility to your ideas. Decisions can make or break the trust between tech folks and other church leaders.
These are just a few ideas to help cultivate trust and communication with those who are leading you in technology ministry. We'd love to hear your ideas. So join the conversation and leave a comment below.
