Do you have a meeting tonight? Are you clear on the purpose of the meeting? Is everyone else? Do you know when it will end? Meetings without a clear purpose and clear ending time tend to go on and on, and they can use up all our time if we let them. They can be good avenues for building relationships, but they will serve everyone better if we have greater clarity about why we’re there.
Congregations differ, of course. In a smaller congregation the purpose may be the relationships even more than the task at hand, and we may have to encourage them patiently to focus on the task. In larger churches with lots of corporate-trained leaders, we may have to encourage them patiently to work on spiritual growth as part of the meeting. We have to manage ourselves in relation to the culture of the church we serve. But whatever the culture, when we are thoughtful about meetings rather than mindlessly carried on by routine, it will be easier to move forward.
What is the purpose for your meeting tonight?
Margaret Marcuson
Thanks, Israel. Having a clear purpose in mind helps us and everyone else.
Israel Galindo
Good thoughts, Margaret. As I tell my students, “Never invite someone into a vacuum.” When we are not clear about the purpose of a gathering, whether it is a formal meeting or an informal get-together, people get frustrated and confused, “Why am I here?” “What’s this meeting about?” “Why are we wasting time?” “What am I supposed to do?”
Do that to people twice and they likely will not return the next time. One of the unspoken unforgivable sins is wasting people’s time. People may not complain overtly, but they’ll vote with their feet and not come back.