When Roy and I first started ministering together it didn’t feel natural. Rather than really working together it often felt like a game of tug-of-war, except it felt more like a war and less of a game. When we first started teaching together we felt sorry for the participants, we fumbled our way through week-by-week. As we stepped out in faith we felt blessed as the Holy Spirit made up for our inadequacy and the couples we were working with were extremely blessed. Having said that we knew something needed to change in the way we flowed together if we were going to become more effective in ministry.
Tips for ministering together as a married couple and becoming more effective in ministry. Click To Tweet
Prior to operating in the dynamic of teaching together, each individual has their own way they like to flow. Imagine two rivers converging into one, at this meeting point there is often turbulence above and below the surface. This is also a picture of the process of learning to flow together in ministry. It isn’t always smooth, it isn’t always easy and it often doesn’t feel natural! However when you visit the river a little further downstream you see that much has changed and that the river has blended together. We want to encourage you that whether you are teaching together, ministering together or working together, it may be difficult right now but it will not always be that way. Soon you will discover, as we did, that it is the most natural thing in the world. You will soon discover the synergy of flowing together!
Tips for Ministering Together.
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Pray Together. Make sure you do this as a first step!
- If you prepare before you pray, strife often enters the preparation process. More time and energy is put into arguing than planning the lesson.
- Ask God to help you learn how to work together as a team.
- Pray that He will show you what your strengths and weaknesses are and how to work together in the best way.
- Pray protection over your preparation time so that no distractions or disagreements can interrupt the time you have set aside.
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Plan Together.
- It’s important to be on the same page and have the same vision.
- Planning together means that instead of one of you having to ‘buy in’ to the others plans you both are getting vision together.
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Practice Together.
- It is important to remember that as you learn to work together as a couple it takes practice. Don’t give up when you hit the first road bump!
- Celebrate your different approaches to ministry instead of trying to change one another.
- Sometimes you need to practice keeping your mouth shut when your spouse does something a different way than you would expect. Different is just different it’s not necessarily wrong.
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Pay attention to each other.
- If you are teaching together make sure you show that you are interested in what your spouse is saying. Be careful not to zone out and repeat what they have just said.
- If you are ministering together remember to flow with each other in unity.
- For those who have a tendency to be the more vocal of the couple, make sure you respect your partner’s right to input into situations. If you find you are speaking much more than your spouse, remind yourself that it’s not all about you.
- If you tend to be the quieter spouse, make sure you don’t hide behind your spouse. God has given you both a message to bring and you have a vital role.
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Praise Together.
- Recognise that God is the reason for a change in lives and make sure you take the time to thank Him and praise Him.
- Take time to encourage each other. Criticism will not bring life to your ministry as a couple but when we encourage each other it will bring life.
By Lainey Hitchman
