What’s the first thing people from Hawaii do when they meet someone new? Whether you ask, “What school you went?” or “Where you from?” they all are setups for this question … “Do you know (insert every person’s name you know from that school or town here)?” Every job interview I ever went to had some portion of it dedicated to finding my connection to the company or its current employees. But why do we need to point this out? We want trust.
In ministry, the same holds true. People will not attend your ministry events or join your ministry team if they don’t trust you. The biggest reason why people don’t trust a ministry leader is because ministry leaders don’t always trust them.
James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of “The Leadership Challenge,” challenges leaders to “demonstrate their trust in others before asking for trust from others.”
When leaders trust “first,” then there will be space for young adults to step into leadership roles. With the proper support and intentional leadership development (training) young adults will find the confidence and courage to be leaders, and that’s when we see the church grow.
Makana Aiona is the diocesan coordinator for Young Adult Ministry
