Last week we told the history of our ministry team at Betenbough Homes and its parent company, Cornerstone Business Holdings. This week, we want to equip you with practical ideas on your own journey of incorporating a ministry team within your business.

As of 2018, our ministry team has over 10 team members serving in different offices and regions. They host birthday parties, make hospital visits, cater lunches, put on company-wide events, plan vision trips and build deep relationships with the employees they work with.

We sat down with a few of our ministry team members and asked them to share what they have learned along their journey.

Diane Norman joined the ministry team in 2017 as a ministry coordinator for Betenbough’s Lubbock South region. With a background as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), she brings unique insight to the job.

“Something to keep in mind as a ministry coordinator, is it will take time to earn trust. When I ran my counseling practice, if someone was reaching out to me, they knew they would be opening up about something they needed help with,” Diane said.

Some people come into a ministry role in the marketplace with similar expectations and are met with a different experience.

“Keep in mind that employees need time to figure out if you are a safe place or not. People approach you differently because they are at work, so they might come a little guarded,” Diane said.

This keeps none of the ministry team from loving and serving people, regardless.

“In other companies, I have heard people say, ‘I am nothing but a worker bee, they don’t care about me, they care about results.’ I don’t hear that here though,” Diane said.

Relationship Before Results

So how do you communicate that you care about relationship before results?

Our ministry team has a list of practical ideas they’ve compiled over the years that offer opportunities to connect with people and show them their value.

Our ministry team praying over high school graduates.

Birthday Celebrations

• Cookie bouquets.
• One free vacation day.
• Gift cards to the movies, dinner or bookstore.
• Fill a frame with wonderful one-word qualities of that employee written by coworkers.

High School and College Graduations

• Employee graduates receive a monetary gift while a child of an employee receives a $25 gift card to Target and a graduation devotional book.

Internal Events

            These events create time outside of the office to allow us to learn more about each other on a personal level. 

• Family Board Game Night
• Monday Night Football
• Date Nights
• Barn Dance
• Movie Night
  

  Some of our families enjoying an ice cream social.

• BBQ and Pool Party

Morning Devotionals (Jumpstarts)

• No one is required to attend, only invited.
• Walk through a Bible study DVD series.
• Bring in a guest speaker.
• Have employees share a message or story.
• Give people time to journal.
• Play a game.

These are merely a few of the ideas our ministry team has implemented over the years. While some are simple and others more extravagant, the point is to show people that you care. It is not the amount of money spent that makes an impact, but that employees feel known and appreciated for more than just their performance at work.

“When you have employees that think you don’t care, that translates into them not caring. When you have someone who really feels cared for, they will take care of your business. It is very synergistic,” Diane explained.

Jake Bunn serves as the ministry coordinator for Betenbough’s Amarillo region and has seen this give-and-take in his region as well.

“My favorite part of this job is watching others succeed. Seeing our teams grow into their spiritual and professional potential is very rewarding,” Jake said.

Through offering jumpstarts, celebrations and simply being a relational touchpoint for the Amarillo employees, Jake has seen that investment come back in the form of a team who is passionate about their work and their coworkers.

Staying Flexible

Betenbough employees celebrating Christmas at a company event that our ministry team helps plan.

While our ministry team has gained some valuable experience, they are still learning.

“Just this past Christmas I planned a party for my region that did not go as planned,” Diane said.

“I had planned some games and activities that ended up not being the best fit for the large amount of people that we ended up having. I could have beat

myself up over that, but I just tried to go with the flow and learn for the next time,” Diane said.

Jake has had his share of missteps within the past year as well.

“To quote Thomas Edison, ‘I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,’” Jake said.

This flexibility and ability to adapt is so important that it is one of the main traits the company looks for when hiring a ministry coordinator.

The majority of what ministry coordinators do, revolves around people. This calls for someone who can adapt and connect with all different kinds of people in a meaningful way.

“Take the DISC personality profile for example,” Diane said. “The DISC suggests there are four major personality types that people possess a mix of.”

“For the D personalities that I serve, since they value productivity, I connect with them while we are working. If they are builders, I will visit a home sight and walk it with them. I try to learn about their job and ask them questions about what they are doing. Or with the detail team, I might bring them Starbucks and talk with them while they paint,” Diane said.

“For S personalities, be prepared to spend a lot of time talking. You will talk for a long time and the temptation might be to feel that you are being idle, but that time is so valuable. Giving an S time to process whatever they are feeling is crucial. They often do not get opportunities to process in a way that is meaningful to them, so if you give them that chance, they will have a lot to say,” Diane said.

“When it comes to I personalities, they are all-in for the socials. Christmas parties, game nights, ice breakers – really any fun and games. They love unstructured chances to socialize and have fun while doing it,” Diane said.

“Finally, C personalities value efficiency so be aware of showing up on time. Don’t call for a meeting and ask them to attend if it’s not well thought-through because they are into the details. Be respectful of their time and communicate clearly. If you do this with them, they’ll feel respected and valued,” Diane said.

(Kingdom At Work offers Private Leadership Coaching for business leaders and their teams. If you would like further coaching on the DISC Personality Profile mentioned here, we would love to facilitate this for you and your team. Learn more here).

Connecting People with The Kingdom

The point is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to caring for your employees. In fact, the more variety you can offer, the better chance you’ll have connecting on deeper levels with more people. A ministry team is a personal and practical way to achieve this.

To sum it up, here are some key takeaways our ministry team has learned:

• We are not people’s savior or provider, we simply point them to the One who is.
• What works in one of our regions/teams may not work in another – be willing to adapt.
• You must first connect with people, before you can connect them with God.

Every company is different. They vary in size, people, schedule and resource. Ultimately, as kingdom leaders, our job is to connect people with the Kingdom of God by being intentional with the style of our leadership and the culture of our company. Having a ministry team just happens to be a great way to do this.

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