A fast-paced church environment has three distinct core indicators. The pace is fast, the work is constant, and the rigor is high.
The Traits of a Fast-Paced Church
Fast-paced church environments have many things happening at the same time. Projects, new initiatives, and overarching tasks are the norm. Not only does this newness of ministries happen often, but breaks are also not often valued as they waste time. Staff rarely have the time to celebrate successes since there is a new project happening…yesterday!
There is also a constant flow of work, demands, expectations, deadlines, and goals to meet. Often, the turnaround time is so tight it seems impossible. You’ll hear things like “here, we turn on a dime”, meaning the church or organization will make decisions quickly and get moving even quicker! Long days are the norm, while additional and optional opportunities are frequent.
Those environments also require the rigor of work ethics. It often has a high staff turnover since you need to work hard and for a long time. Excellence is a buzzword. The quality of work is unparalleled. Burnout, work fatigue, and high levels of stress result from an imbalance between work and personal life.
But don’t jump to conclusions too fast. A fast-paced church atmosphere is not all doom and gloom. Working in a fast-paced environment has some very interesting perks as well.
The Benefits of a Fast-Paced Church
If you enjoy a wide variety of work, this type of church just might be your ideal place! You will get to do various things that will challenge a wide array of your talents. By doing so, you will gain a wealth of work and professional experiences, allowing you to fill in your resume with sublime accomplishments. Your work experience will appear richer and deeper. The usual work rigor and straightforward communication will accentuate the solidity of your character.
You will develop a greater capacity for collaboration as this is a critical component of these organizations. You will be able to strengthen and intensify your multiple competencies. Ministering and functioning in an ever-moving church with constant change agents bring you close to cutting-edge teamwork and experiences. These churches are more on the innovative side; they are trend-setting.
If you like these qualities and aspire to work in such a brewing ministry laboratory, you will be able to thrive if you follow certain guidelines. If this sounds exhausting, you are probably not hard-wired for such a work ecosystem. Perhaps you’re neither, as you haven’t discovered if you could fit in those churches. Finding out will be a learning experience, which is always a benefit. But here are a few questions to ask yourself first.
QUESTIONS
- Do you want to work in that type of environment? If the answer is not an emphatic yes, you are not cut out for it. That is totally ok, though. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not a matter of “the best work there and the rest don’t.” That is a cultural fit more than anything else.
- Are you suited for that type of environment? Again, you must be able to say yes without much hesitation here. How do you know if you’re suited for this? Ask your friends, mentor, or a coach. They can guide you, even if you make the final decision. Easy cues would be these, though. If you like to take your time to finish a job, hate direct supervision, or if you like to labor alone in your solitary bubble, this may be a suit that looks a little weird on you!
- What are your expectations? Knowing what you want from that work experience may determine your call. Want to deepen your knowledge and competencies? Do you want to try it for a couple of years or want to learn how to use a specific tool? Then this might give you the green light to go for it.
THRIVING GUIDELINES
Let Go of Insecurities
You may want to do a hard reset on your insecurities and need for self-acceptance in that church style. By letting go of your desire to be accepted and appreciated, you will be able to talk about work for what it is: work. It doesn’t define who you are. You must be willing to talk about the “thing” without taking it personally.
Procrastination
Procrastinating is a major no-no! You won’t have time to do tomorrow what you could do today. Tomorrow will bring an added layer of work. Get at the task at hand, and get at it now.
Multi-tasking
Multitasking will bring your expertise to a whole new level as you will learn to master juggling a few tasks at the same time. Your ability to accept and enjoy this determines your capacity to thrive in it. That church train is moving already and when you jump on it, keeping up to speed is a requirement!
Grit
Grit and this willingness to make it, whatever the cost, are vital ingredients to grow and bloom in this organizational arena. Determination to see it through is a must.
Collaboration
Since collaboration is a key component, quickly learn to lean on your teammates. Lone rangers don’t thrive in a fast-paced church environment. They’re probably as busy as you, if not busier! Yet, most are willing to pitch in when the going gets rough or faster than expected.
That collaboration requires your willingness to get to know the people you work with. Lines between work and relationships may be blurred sometimes but investing your time and energy in connecting with coworkers is always valuable, whatever the environment. Is it a little toxic? A good ear and friend is worth it. Is it healthy? Great! You got to know someone well.
While your collaboration skills grow, your communication will have to follow the same learning curve! Communicating and expressing opinions, emotions, and evaluations of projects and products will enrich your experience in your workplace.
Always Learn and Grow
Your direct report will be placing goals on you to achieve personally and team objectives that need to be reached collectively. Don’t wait for these to happen to you. Don’t become a victim of the circumstances but take it head-on, face it and prepare your own goals to accomplish.
See all this as a learning experience, and it will be easier to deal with the quick pace you may be facing. You’re learning and appreciating new abilities; you’re mastering and exploring new facets of your personality and spirituality. This season will grow you, willingly or not. So you might as well enjoy the ride!
Rest and Take Breaks
One of the most forgotten tools to thrive in such stomping grounds is the ability to rest and take a break. No one can thrive on the go, go, go full throttle non-stop lifestyle. Even machines need to stop once in a while. Build that necessary boundary to say no and rest. God took a sabbath. It’s not like He needed to stop. It was an example for us to follow. It’s even in the 10 commandments!
Thriving in a fast-paced church is more about you than the environment itself. You can show your flexibility as your new superpower. Adapting to your reality allows you to grow, sustain, and thrive. You will succeed if you desire to and know when it’s time to either change, rest, or keep on going.
