The Zone Gathering

This is Part 10 of the Fall Semester Leadership Lesson Series, Repair and Remodeling. We believe that when it comes to making disciples, creating community, and doing ministry, there is always some assembly required. In the spring, we talked about laying a solid foundation. In the summer, we talked about principles of community construction. This semester, we will talk about how to identify and respond to problem areas. Every structure comes to a place where it requires repair and remodeling.

Repair and remodeling require careful skill. Today, we talk about stepping down from leadership.

Two weeks ago, we talked about blowing up your group. If you’ve been in leadership for any length of time, then you may have considered blowing yourself up as an option instead. Hopefully, we won’t have any of that. But sometimes you do need to do a little repair and remodeling on yourself for a season before you lead again. Today, I’m going to talk about a sensitive topic: Stepping down from leadership. Why should you do it? When should you do it? How should you do it? Let’s jump in.

The Sin Issue

First I want to tackle one of the most important issues related to stepping down. The sin issue. Sometimes, leaders think they can’t confess a sin because it will require them to step down from leadership. Concerns about the group, letting people down, and reputation puts a tight clamp on a lot of leaders’ lips. Let’s me be very clear: do not ever let this stop you from confessing something that you need to confess. If there’s a persistent sin issue that you need to deal with, then talk to a team leader, zone leader, or pastor. Don’t just keep it locked inside because you are afraid of repercussions. And don’t just step down so you don’t have to deal with it. We are more concerned about you as a Christ-follower than you as a leader. And our goal always is to restore people to place where they can lead with a higher level of influence.

Here are the steps I would recommend in this situation:

• Confession. Talk with your team leader, zone leader, or a pastor about it.
• Prayer. Pray with them and work with them to determine next steps. It may or may not require that you step down from leadership. In a lot of cases, it makes sense for the leader to continue leading the group as a part of their healing process. If a step down makes sense, then your team leader will help you develop a plan for stepping down in a way that impacts you and the group in the most positive way.
• Accountability. Make sure you are in community with 2-4 people who can encourage you, pray with you, and ask you the tough questions.

Now, let’s look as some of the other reasons why you might be thinking of stepping down…

Why Should I Step Down?

There are lots of reasons why people step down from leadership. A valid reason for one leader may not be a valid reason for another leader. Here are some of the common reasons that people step down and some thoughts on each:

• You need a break. It’s tiring leading a group and people need a break. Rhythm and balance are Biblical concepts, and it’s probably a good idea for most leaders to take a semester off every 3-5 semesters. But don’t neglect community. Breaking away from community will not restore you. As you take some time off to recharge your spiritual batteries, make sure you are doing that within the context of community. Find a small group to jump into.
• Your priorities shift. Demanding work schedules, new projects, moving into a new place, marriage, birth of children…there are lots of life changes that cause our priorities to shift. We usually describe this as “I don’t have time to do small groups this semester.” It’s not that you don’t have time; it’s just not a priority. There’s a difference. And that’s okay. Priorities shift and sometimes leading a small group is not what we need to be doing. But remember, community and discipleship are Biblical priorities, so make sure you jump into a group where you can grow.
• Your group just isn’t working or growing. This probably means you just haven’t found your niche. Instead of stepping down, work with your team leader to see if there’s something different that you can do with your group or if there’s an entirely different group altogether that you should lead. It takes some leaders three or more tries at leading different kinds of groups before they find their “fit.” It’s a journey.
• You are moving. Okay, this one is unavoidable. We lose about 20% of our leaders every year because you folks move all over the world! Make sure you work hard to replace yourself and work with your team leader to determine a strategy for passing the torch to the next leader.

How Should You Step Down?

When you need to step down, there’s a process that we would recommend. It’s never a good idea to just close a group and drop out of leadership. The group needs a sense of closure and the individuals in the group need a sense of direction for the future. You need those same things as a leader. Here’s what we request that you do:

• Talk with your team leader. And let me state the obvious– do this before you announce to your group that you are stepping down. If you have been leading a group for a long time, then you should begin talking with your team leader about a semester before you want to step down.
• Develop a next-step strategy for the group. Work with your team leader to determine what the next step is for the group- to multiply, go to a new leader, or dissolve.
• Develop a next-step strategy for yourself. Work with your team leader to determine what your next step is- what group to get involved in, what your plan is for stepping back into leadership (if applicable).
• Talk about it with the group. If you’ve been meeting together as a group for a long time, then it will probably take 6 weeks- two months for the group to process whatever change might be coming. If your group has only been together for a semester, begin talking about next steps about 3 weeks before the semester ends.
• Replace yourself. Groups should rarely dissolve. Before you step down, work hard to train up another leader or two to take over the group.
• Celebrate. Whether it’s a change of leadership or the end of a group, celebrate it. This brings closure to the group or to the season of leadership, and it helps everyone keep a Biblical perspective on community.

This is a tough topic. And honestly, one that I’m not thrilled to be addressing as we are trying to enlist old and new leaders for the Spring 2008 semester. But it’s important and we cannot ignore it. If you are thinking about taking a step back, make sure you do it in a way that will ultimately benefit you and your group. If you’ve got questions, please don’t hesitate to talk to your team leader, zone leader, me, or another pastor you feel comfortable sharing with.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Leadership Lessons, News and Updates, Repair/Remodeling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.