Spreading the Word

How team teaching helped our church and saved my ministry.

Monday stank.

I was disappointed with the sermon I delivered on Sunday and I couldn't conceive of another one for next week. My email was full, last month's giving was down, and the fire marshal stopped by my office to deliver his own sermon about our inadequate exit signs. I entered the pastorate to do and equip others for ministry, I thought to myself. This wasn't what I signed up for.

I couldn't eliminate all these frustrations, but shortly after that rough Monday I started a practice that revitalized both my equipping and teaching ministry. Someone attending a home Bible study stopped to tell me how good it was. I went to Steve, the study leader, to encourage him. He was so excited about it that I said, rather impulsively, "Steve, what would you think about helping me teach through this series on Sunday mornings?"

"Sure," he said.

I panicked. I didn't know Steve well. I'd never heard him speak up front. The Andy Stanley study he taught had a picture of Godzilla on the cover. What had I done? The right thing, as it turned out. This rash invitation is what ended up helping me rediscover why I'd been called to ministry in the first place.

I discovered the value of teaching others to teach others. Of course this is nothing new—it's right out of 2 Timothy 2:2—but the practice changed our church's approach to teaching, and my approach to ministry. We discovered that team teaching often does a better job keeping people's interest than one person teaching. And I found a new way to mentor and train people in Bible study and application. I love it. I've now team taught with more than a dozen people. This is exactly what I signed up for!

Aaron is one of my favorite teaching partners. We started teaching together when he was in college, and he has helped to develop this process through the years. And since this is an article about team teaching, we thought it would be appropriate to try a little team writing. Here is his take on picking the right study. To read more, click here.