I have had the pleasure of visiting several parishes that are not only large in size and membership, but also in the number of ministries. There is an amazing fruit in their parishioners desire to serve. Some simply join an existing ministry and others are led to develop a new one. It is fantastic to witness! What could be wrong with this kind of success?

With success on any level comes it’s own set of problems or issues that will creep in and cause the effectiveness to diminish. There is no doubt that the spirit is moving, and yet you can bet that the enemy is following closely behind, ready to diminish the good fruits.

Their job is to render all of our efforts as fruitless as possible. They would love for you to get so busy doing, that you loose sight of the Lord and become ineffective. Below are some key areas where parishes make mistakes and loose their edge.

1. People led into ministry, by the Holy Spirit; cease to follow the Spirit’s leading once they are serving. The ministry is no longer led by the Spirit but by people in leadership.  
2. People can get so busy doing ministry that they no longer pray for those receiving it.
3. Individual ministries can loose sight of the over-all mission of the parish and cease to help fulfill the mission. Their ministry becomes an end in itself.
4. Individual ministries can gain an overblown importance (pride) for their ministries and develop a silo mentality. They are no longer a part of a team (the body of Christ) and exist to promote it’s own agenda.
5. Individual ministry leadership within the parish can develop a possessive appetite for being “in charge” and the ministry is no longer about Jesus. It exists as a means of self-promotion (pride).
6. Individual ministries leaders can baulk when the Pastor asks them to deviate from their schedule to include their ministry people in a program designed for the entire parish.

As you can see, the enemy can creep into parish ministries and cause quite a bit of havoc.

I am not saying that it is wrong to become big, only that the larger you become, the greater the task of keeping all leadership focused on the Lord and operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Those charged with leading the entire parish are charged with a high and holy task of helping their second tier management in prayer and on task.

If you’re in ministry leadership, never assume your assistants are praying. Become attentive to recognize the fruits of prayer in their lives as evidence of being close to the Holy Spirit.