Doing Church as a Team: The Miracle of Teamwork and How It Transforms Churches

By Wayne Cordeiro

When a Church Works Together, God Can Do Amazing Things

"To be a successful leader, and if you plan to have a successful ministry, you must develop not only your gifts, but more so, the gifts of those around you." -Wayne Cordeiro 

Everyone is a great fit . . . somewhere, and God has strategically called and gifted each individual for a specific role and purpose. The twenty-first-century church must be a battleship, not a cruise ship, but that can only happen when everyone finds their place in ministry.

In Doing Church as a Team, Dr. Wayne Cordeiro shows you how to identify the hidden callings of the members in your church so that together you can accomplish anything God is asking you to do. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781441230638

Wayne Cordeiro

Wayne Cordeiro is the founding pastor of New Hope Christian Fellowship in Honolulu, Hawaii, which has a weekend attendance of more than 14,500. Wayne is a church planter at heart, having planted more than 108 churches in the Pacific Rim countries of the Philippines, Japan, Australia, and Myanmar. He has also planted churches in Hawaii, California, Montana, Washington, and Nevada. He is the author of eleven books, and he and his wife, Anna, have three married children and four grandchildren. They split their time between Hawaii and Eugene, Oregon, where they have a family farm.

Book preview

Praise for Doing Church as a Team

Doing Church as a Team is one of the most refreshing books I have read in a long time. I have made it mandatory reading for all of my pastoral staff.

Ché Ahn senior pastor, Harvest Rock Church Pasadena, California

Every time I talk to Wayne Cordeiro, I am inspired and enthused about what God is doing through his church in Hawaii. Doing Church as a Team is easy to understand and easy to apply. Every church leader should read this book.

Bob Buford founding chairman, Leadership Network

Wayne Cordeiro is one of the spiritual giants of our time. No better book exists on the subject of building teams.

Bill Easum founder and president, The Effective Church Group

Very few young leaders have Wayne Cordeiro’s combination of gifts, character, and leadership. I am completely unreserved in recommending his work because I know him well. I trust his vision and values in both a personal and public dimension, and I believe he is being raised up by God as a voice to the larger Body at this pivotal time in the Church.

Jack W. Hayford founding pastor, The Church On The Way chancellor emeritus, The King’s University, Van Nuys, California

A joyous book written in the breezy style of a native island song, Doing Church as a Team isn’t just about mobilizing people to do the work of the church. This is about releasing people into a whole new spiritual dimension in their lives—a place where they begin to understand that God created each of us for a purpose. Mahalo, Wayne!

John C. Maxwell founder, EQUIP

Wayne Cordeiro’s thriving congregation is one of America’s truly great churches. Doing Church as a Team, however, is not about how to build a megachurch. Wayne is committed to building people one by one. His passion is to help every believer find his or her unique place of fruitful service in God’s house and among the lost in God’s harvest fields.

Ron Mehl former pastor, Beaverton Foursquare Church Beaverton, Oregon

The key word in this book is team. Wayne Cordeiro is equipping people for leadership and giving them a vision of how to pull together to build the work of God. The principles in this book will work in a church of fifty as well as they do in Pastor Cordeiro’s megachurch in Honolulu.

Elmer L. Towns dean emeritus of the School of Religion and Theological Seminary, Liberty University

There is no such thing as a formula for growing a church, but there are foundational principles underlying the growth of every one. Wayne Cordeiro has these principles in place, and he shares his secrets in this remarkable book.

C. Peter Wagner founder, Wagner University

© 2001, 2004, 2022 by Wayne Cordeiro

Published by Bethany House Publishers

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Minneapolis, Minnesota 55438

bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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This edition published 2022

ISBN 978-0-7642-1848-4 (trade paper)

ISBN 978-1-4412-3063-8 (ebook)

ISBN 978-0-7642-4073-7 (casebound)

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition created 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955677

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations labeled ASV are from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations labeled THE MESSAGE are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled TLB are from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled WEB are from the World English Bible version of the Bible.

Cover design by LOOK Design Studio

Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.

Contents

Cover

Endorsements    1

Half Title Page    3

Title Page    5

Copyright Page    6

Acknowledgments    9

Introduction: Lost Connection    11

1. Connection and Rhythm    19

2. Connection and God’s Plan    28

3. Connection and Your Identity in Christ    36

4. Connecting Through the Gifts God Gave You    48

5. Finding Your Fit    62

6. The Fastest Way to the Throne    78

7. Connecting Leadership Gifts in the Church    90

8. Developing Servant-Leaders    106

9. Setting Your Compass    124

10. Alignment: The Power of Moving and Connecting Together    148

11. Building Teams    172

12. Transitioning a Church Culture Toward Greater Connection    191

13. Nurturing the Team Toward Deeper Connection    210

Epilogue: A Moving Picture    225

About the Author    227

Back Ad    229

Back Cover    230

Acknowledgments

No one stands alone. In my life, dozens of people have given me input and inspiration for this book. I have been mentored by scores of wonderful people who may never win a prize or get their names in print. These are my silent heroes—men and women who have jewel-studded crowns awaiting them from the One they so willingly serve.

Thank you, wonderful New Hope family of churches all over the world. We have chosen to live life together as co-laborers. You are my family. To the hundreds of volunteers who put their hands to the plow and have never looked back, thank you.

Thank you, my publishing partners at Bethany, who have been so supportive in all my endeavors.

Great gratitude and love also go to my dear wife, Anna, and my children, Amy, Aaron, and Abigail, from whom I have learned so much. I have so much yet to learn, but with your love and support, I will never give up! Each one of you is a gift to my life.

I have no greater joy than to team up with thousands of churches as together we make a difference. The Life Journals bring us closer to our Master, and Doing Church as a Team will bring us closer to our calling as saints on this spinning globe.

Introduction

Lost Connection

For the last ten years or so, the North American Church has been in what can best be described as transition. I don’t know if the heyday of megachurches is past its zenith, but I do know that attendance is down, leaders are leaving ministry, and the connection people once felt to their local church is not enough to keep them consistent.

While the church may evolve, and while leaders come and go, I’ve yet to see a church move the wrong direction if the people within it are working together on a common mission. When people are able to use their gifts and time to do something needed and significant within a church, the church not only grows deep, but it grows wide.

The era of big-personality leaders attracting people to their church may be waning, but the timelessness of people reaching for their Kingdom dreams of ministering together will never fail to grow a church.

When I first started New Hope in Oahu in 1995, I had a handful of people who came with me from Hilo. We had to stick together and work together or fade into irrelevance together. What we did was more than just dividing up the tasks we needed to accomplish on Sunday morning. Instead, we found each other’s areas of passion and released, supported, and found a way to make every job a ministry. This was not simply a way to get things done, but it was the way that connected us together in everything we did.

I believed then, and still believe today, that if we join hearts and hands and learn from each other, we can bring this country—and the Church—back from the brink. But we have to work together.

Who Are You?

You’ll quickly notice that this book is primarily for leaders: pastors, elders, deacons, associate pastors, teachers . . . the main decision-makers within a church, those who help with the overall culture and structure of a particular body of believers.

But I want to also speak to you within the church, and even to those who may be taking a break. The reason? I see a deep disconnection happening for people inside and outside of the church family today. We are wired into information, but we’re not wired into the needs of people. We are connected by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but we’re not connected in ways that have depth, meaning, and a true sense of community.

This is a problem in the church, and it’s a problem for individuals. Sadly, many who thought to themselves that they would take a short break from the church aren’t coming back. I’ve heard estimates of unchurched Christians in the 35 to 40 million range. While bad experiences and hurt feelings may have caused many to leave, others find the back door for other reasons:

Their gifts aren’t being used in ways that are making a difference in the hearts of people.

The jobs given them within the church don’t challenge them and grow them in spiritual ways.

They are not treated the way they believe Jesus would treat them.

They don’t feel truly connected to a few other believers in genuine ways where they can be themselves.

They’ve noticed that some local bodies have an appearance-driven believer vibe that seems disingenuous to the gospel.

They’re just tired.

One thing you’ll notice throughout this book—and throughout the discussion of becoming a church that does church as a team—is the theme of connection. As I look over the church today, this is the one trait we are struggling with the most.

A good friend of mine decided to take a break from big church after an extremely painful church breakup. After a couple of years of trying other churches, he and his wife got involved with a house church. He admits it was more like a small group . . . there were just seven of them. I admire that he and his wife decided not to isolate themselves completely; they didn’t forsake to gather themselves together (Hebrews 10:25). Unlike the millions of others who have left the church in the last twenty years, they didn’t want to completely fall into the unchurched Christian category.

At first, the group met their needs for fellowship, teaching, and prayer. They even celebrated the Lord’s Supper every time they met. But after a few years, they noticed a couple of key elements missing that they concluded only a larger body of believers could provide.

First, while they connected with a few other mature believers, they rarely had the opportunity to connect their gifts with others outside in the real world. She had a gift and a heart for hospitality and serving, and he had a gift and heart for mentoring/discipling younger male believers. For sure, they each could have found ways to use their gifts outside of a church setting if they had strong social groups to be involved with. But they didn’t . . . so they didn’t.

Second, they weren’t involved in anything more than the mission of taking care of ourselves. They shared insights from life and Scripture, and they prayed, but there was no sense of mission with a group going in the same direction. The higher purposes of God’s Kingdom could not be met because they weren’t pooling their resources to accomplish something significant and tangible.

True connection goes deeper than fellowship and prayer.

True connection happens when men and women of faith figure out together what on earth they’re there for, then they work and fail, work and succeed, work and falter because of the weight of living here on earth; and they work together long enough to see the miracles that God can bring about through a shared long-term history of being on mission toward a shared biblical goal. The way I read my Bible, that goal is Kingdom growth in the heart through the challenge of working together with other humans, and Kingdom growth in the world by being truly on mission together for something that is outside of themselves.

So if you’re one of those who have checked out on church, there’s a reason there is still a restlessness in your spirit. For sure, no church is perfect, and many are highly dysfunctional. But did you know that God only uses imperfect people to build His Kingdom? Did you know that if you wait around for the ideal heavenly connection with people who never hurt you, betray you, embarrass you . . . you’ll likely wait until you walk through heaven’s gates?

I want to urge you to give the local church another chance or two, or three, or four. It’s God’s instrument to accomplish His goal of loving those outside the Kingdom to help them consider the purpose and joy within the Kingdom.

It’s also a place where new ideas can be tried within the safe confines of shared dysfunction in order to love new generations entering this disconnected world. Our goal should always be to connect those who are young and disconnected to the One who is perfect, the One who can connect us all to a mission of love until He returns.

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Southern California, once quipped, I offered a man an idea to try, but he declined and told me in no uncertain terms that he was going to either be original or nothing . . . so he became both.

My dear friend Tom Paterson described it like this, with a gleam in his eye: "If I have one good idea, and you have one good idea, how many ideas does each of us have? One. Now, if I share my idea with you and you share yours with me, how many does each one now have? Two! You see, if we share our ideas with each other, we have immediately doubled our knowledge. Have you lost your own idea? No! You still have it. But by sharing ideas, we have increased our knowledge 100 percent."

You never dim the light of your own candle by lighting that of another.

I often pray that we will always remain learners. The Greek word for disciple (mathetes), in fact, comes from the verb manthano, to learn. Humility and teachability are the crown jewels of all the qualities of a leader whom God will use in the twenty-first century. When we stop learning, we just stop.

Jigoro Kano understood this. He founded the art of judo and became the highest-ranking black belt in this world-renowned sport. Nearing his death, Kano made one last request of his students. He asked that they bury him wearing a white belt, the symbol of a beginner, a learner.

May we learn God’s design for His people and begin to respect and appreciate each other’s giftings!

I for one am learning that I cannot be fulfilled apart from other people. In fact, the bottom line of this book is this: You can’t do it alone. If you want to be a successful leader—if you plan to have a successful ministry—then you must develop not only your gifts but also the gifts of those around you. If you give your life away, you’ll end up discovering what life is all about.

The ideas in Doing Church as a Team are more than just the accumulation of forty years in ministry. I have included lessons learned from making hundreds of mistakes as well as gems gleaned from observing many wonderful churches and leaders in action.

This book is written for both pastors and members of congregations who have a deep desire to make a difference with their lives. I pray you’ll come away motivated and inspired in your walk with the Lord, encouraged to keep reaching for God’s very best. It is written for leaders who, like myself, have found the status quo unacceptable. At times I will address my comments to pastors and, at other times, to volunteer leaders. But in the final analysis, these truths apply to every person and every church in every denomination.

Finally, this isn’t a book on how to make your church more like our church, or how to adopt another congregation’s style. Instead, it is a book on how to become more like the person or church Jesus created you to be. We must learn from each other, and if we do, we’ll be miles closer to becoming all God desires for us.

Just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, He prayed a remarkable prayer for the church He founded. He asked His Father, that they all may be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me (John 17:21 ASV).

I often notice that, as Christians, we constantly ask God to answer our prayers. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that; He invites our prayers and is so faithful to answer them. But after reading this verse, I thought, Wouldn’t it be nice if, just for once, we could answer one of HIS prayers?

Doing church as a team is one of the ways we can do that. That’s what this book is all about. After all, He has answered hundreds of billions of our prayers. Now maybe we can finally answer one of His.

1

Connection and Rhythm

This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 48:17 NIV

My journey from the mainland after serving