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Since I work at a recovering church in transition, I've largely worked without a job description for the last five years.  This has presented a number of challenges, not least of which is dealing with the question of what exactly I'm supposed to be doing!

But as we work through so many transitions at FBCCS and move towards focus in ministry in 2011, one thing the pastor, myself, and our personnel team are working on is crafting "forward-thinking" job descriptions for the areas of ministry I'm involved in.  I use the term "forward-thinking" because instead of simply describing what I am currently doing, I want to craft a framework for ministry that describes what I - or whoever comes after me - should be doing in order to achieve the best results.

So, with all that in mind, I'm experimenting with a new process for writing out these job descriptions using the acronym "P.E.E.P.E.E."

Yeah, that's right.  Peepee.  Each letter stands for a responsibility/step in a ministry, and though they would look different in application within each ministry, should (in theory) be transferable job-to-job.  This may benefit you if you are in a similar situation to me, crafting your own job description.

Here's what each letter of PEEPEE stands for:

PHILOSOPHY: The staff minister is responsible for crafting a philosophy/vision/strategy for his/her area of ministry.  Of course, this should be in line with the church's overall philosophy/vision, and should be done in conjunction with the direct supervisor/supervising team (in my case, my pastor).

ENLISTING: The next area of responsibility is recruiting people to do the work of ministry alongside you.  I can't think of any ministry areas in the church that shouldn't be done in a team setting.  A staff minister should seek to build a team that accomplishes the goals of his/her ministry.

EQUIPPING: After the staff person enlists congregation members to serve within his/her area of ministry, the process of equipping those people for the task at hand begins.  The staff person should not be the one that does all of the work of ministry, but rather the one that directs and equips (Eph. 4:12).

PLANNING: After enlisting and equipping, the staff member must then begin the process of planning out all aspects of the ministry - making sure the right people are in the right place and that the logistics of the service/outreach/program are ready to go.

EXECUTION: You've enlisted, you've equipped, you've planned - the next step for a staff member is executing the service/program/ministry experience/whatever.  This is the "pulling it off" phase of ministry, and often the only part of our jobs that people ever see.

EVALUATION: An often overlooked, but crucial step of a staff member's responsibilities is evaluating his/her area of influence.  Evaluation should be continuously impacting all previous levels of the process.

I probably need a better acronym (something less bodily-function-ish), and I'm not sure how this will shape up on paper, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes.  I look forward to sharing drafts of the job descriptions I come up with and how the process goes with you on here!

- Tim B.