The Most Important 2 Hours Of Our Week

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” - Hebrews 10:24-25

Best Time of the Week

For two hours every Tuesday, our entire church staff gathers for our weekly staff meeting. Everyone, from security team to senior pastor, packs tightly into one big circle. We worship, learn, laugh, celebrate, remind, and then hit our knees and pray.

A church consultant might tell us getting everyone together is too costly. If we ran the numbers on the “price” of this time, they might say we couldn’t afford it. However, after almost 20 years, we would argue we can’t afford not to. Here is the why and how behind it:

The Meeting Before the Meeting

Staff Prayer begins well before its technical 8:30 AM start time. Team members are greeted with hot coffee, a large circle of chairs, with some people on the floor, and an air of excitement. The whole room hums with people from every department chatting, laughing together, and asking questions. This gives us time to have meaningful connections with those on staff who don’t normally cross our paths. There are no barriers. No seniority. No stage. Even if you show up late, there is no sitting outside the circle.

This is not a corporate meeting built around a personality, so we don’t sit in rows facing the speaker. This is a family on mission so we sit in a circle where we can see each other. The young, spry, and late all grab Crazy Creek chairs and sit in the middle. Those that are older or are early get chairs on the outside.

Worshiping Together

At 8:30, one of our worship leaders stands on top of a chair and does their best to get the crowd under control. We normally begin by reading scripture and then go into a time of worship. We sing new songs, old songs, and songs written by our team. We always leave the doors propped open. If you sit in our lobby on Tuesday mornings there is a sense that the staff is “singing over you.”

Teaching, Vision, and Care

Everything up to this point is predictable. After worship, nothing is. Whoever leads the room that day has the flexibility make this time whatever it needs to be. And while it would be impossible to paint a complete picture of all the things that can happen during this time, here are 10 things you might see:

• Responsive Prayer. We may respond in prayer to what we sung. If the songs were about the greatness of God, we will pray out loud together, reminding ourselves of the ways God is great. If we’re singing sing about grace, we will thank God for all his good gifts.
• Teaching. Someone shares what they are learning from God’s Word or teaches how to apply Scripture to a pastoral leadership challenge we are walking through.
• Reminders. Since we know that vision leaks, we want to constantly remind one another of the things we want to be about. We will highlight stories that illustrate the vision or point out areas where we can “excel still more.”
• Celebration. If part of our team has “won” recently, we take time to highlight and celebrate it. For example, if a staff member is doing a great job, we publicly encourage them. And I assure you, the cheering for pregnancies or engagements would rival any football game.
• Confession. Essentially, if trust has been broken, we confess our sins to one another and ask for forgiveness and prayer.
• Updates. With a large staff it can be difficult to keep everyone in the know. Therefore, we often leave space for quick updates on events or initiatives that occur any given week.

• Introductions. Each week we celebrate anyone leaving paid staff and introduce those that are new to the team. In our onboarding process, we ask our new hires for interesting facts about themselves. So, if someone admits to playing the banjo in high school, we’ll bring one to Staff Prayer so they can show off their skills. If they jumped rope competitively earlier in life, then the crowd will start yelling “prove it!” and a jump rope will “magically” appear.

• Honoring. When someone hits their 5-year anniversary at Watermark, we give them a branding iron with the shape of a “W” on it and ask the whole staff to write one-word descriptions of that person on its stand. We then read the words out loud and celebrate the contribution they made to our church.

• Honesty. Just as there are reasons to celebrate together, there are also reasons to mourn together. That’s why we choose to share news of both pregnancies and miscarriages. We share the things we are encouraged about and the things we are discouraged about. We want to be a family through the good times and the bad.

Oh, and occasionally, we take this time to have a little fun…

Having Fun

Most people would never put “Church Staff Meeting” and “fun” in the same sentence. We want to change that. We do this by creating opportunities to laugh at one another and make memories of funny moments. For example, the residents and fellows will have contests several times a year that generally end up with the losers making a music video to watch at Staff Prayer.

Other epic moments usually involve the consequences of our Christmas Party or annual March Madness bracket. The lucky losers might perform stand-up comedy or put on a magic show for the staff. Emily might beat out the college athletes and land a perfect shot. Perhaps, the worst four brackets have to take the SAT, and then the person with the lowest SAT score has to send a recruiting video the coach he chose to win. It’s an added win when the coach sends a response.

The work of the church is serious, and ministry will always be hard. We find that prioritizing time for fun and laughter helps us to not take ourselves too seriously. It creates memories and bonds us together. It is why we are serious about having fun.

Hitting Our Knees in Prayer

After the agenda, updates, and announcements, the last words will be “let’s go hit our knees.” This is when the real work of Staff Prayer begins. For the last 15-20 minutes, we pray in groups of 3-6 people. We pray for upcoming events, weekend services, and our leadership. We pray for our marriages, our ministries, and our families. We pray for the sick, the lost, and the hurting. We pray to stay humble, courageous, and faithful as we head into the next week of ministry.

It’s Worth it

If this sounds like it takes time and energy—that’s because it does. However, it is often the highlight of our week and part of the “secret sauce” of our staff. If you aren’t regularly gathering as a team, consider doing so. If your current meeting has gotten stale or routine, give it some leadership energy and turn it into the meeting you would hate to miss. Meeting together as a staff isn’t just a time for administration, it should be the launching pad for your mission.