I did this in 2000.

There may be a few old wineskin thoughts, but it is something that still
has some truths for us. Steve

Ministry Problem Troubleshooting

Problems and Potential Solutions

1. You’re frustrated about this ministry

 You have a poor personal spiritual diet
 You don’t have specific direction from God – or not following direction given
 You are going through season of testing
 Not growing in leadership through input of books, cassettes, conferences, mentoring, etc.
2. Attendance is low
 It is a season of planting and watering
 There is a lack of prayer for breakthrough
 You do not have vision or not communicating vision
 You are not raising up leaders
 You do not have a system of contacting people (both to invite and to inform of happenings)
 You don’t give responsibilities to people in the ministry; thus others don’t have motivation
 Your ministry is inconsistent (i.e. you cancel or forget often, etc.)
3. Leadership under me in this ministry lack initiative and are irresponsible
 You lack initiative and are irresponsible
 You do not lovingly confront irresponsibility and slothfulness
 The expectations of these leaders is unclear and need to be clarified
 The church as a whole tolerates mediocrity
4. There’s little excitement about this ministry
 You are not excited about this ministry and you don’t project enthusiasm about it
 The people don’t see the vision for the ministry & thee is a lack of prayer involving it
 This is a season of testing your leadership to get at the roots of unfaithfulness and unbelief
 You are not really committed to this ministry but are using it as a stepping stone to bigger
things
5. There’s strife within this ministry
 You walk in strife, petty bickerings, disrespect, offense & bring a negative spirit into the
ministry
 There is a lack of prayer concerning this ministry
 There are controlling and manipulating spirits that must be dealt with through prayer &
wisdom
 There is not loving confrontation to those causing the strife
6. People in the ministry are constantly late, “forgetting” things and don’t communicate
when they cannot fulfill responsibilities.
 You tolerate mediocrity in your ministry. You contribute to this attitude in the ministry by not
starting ministries on time, by not being prepared, by being constantly late
 You are not raising the standard of leadership in your ministry by dealing with problems
 You do all of the above in the ministries that you are involved in (sowing and reaping)
7. People don’t respect your ministry leadership
 You fear or mistrust people and don’t expect them to like you
 There has not been sufficient time for you to earn a high level of respect & trust
 You don’t respect others (authorities, family, co-workers, classmates, etc.)
 You have an integrity problem – you don’t keep your word, are inconsistent, or are
hypocritical
 You have favorites and you don’t project unconditional love to all (and don’t right wrongs)
8. There are people who dominate this ministry through attitude, talking, or through a
controlling spirit
 Lack of receiving prayerful direction from the Lord to keep ministry/meetings on course
 Lack of wisdom in how to tactfully confront the offenders
 Lack of courage to take a stand – no matter what happens
9. This ministry is stagnant with little fruit (over a long period of time)
 You are in the wrong ministry
 You are over committed in other areas
 You are not developing this ministry through prayer, planning, goals, leadership
development, special events, creativity, and increasing the anointing of God in the ministry
 You are boring in your leadership style, stuck in a rut and not growing by continued
education
 You are ignoring God in key areas of your life and your life is not blessed
10. There’s not enough money for this ministry
 You have not communicated your vision to others
 You have not sought God about how to increase the finances in this ministry
 There is a spiritual reason that is blocking the financial flow
11. Things “fall apart” or are mediocre when you are away
 You are not training others to lead when you are gone
 You are not anticipating what needs to be done while gone
 You are not instructing others properly of the details while you are gone
 You do not get and/or evaluate a report of what happened when you were gone
12. You cancel many meetings that you have planned or are in charge of
 You are not carefully praying in planning and preparing for these meetings – you do not
anticipate other factors that may hinder your ministry
 You have not clarified your personal priorities and this ministry is not all that important to
you
 You do not engage in spiritual warfare for your ministry
 You are having problems with living by feelings
 You have not developed leaders and a back up plan to use in the event of emergencies
13. You have children who disrupt this ministry
 You don’t have a plan to deal with this
 You are afraid of offending the parents; thus, you don’t take any loving action
14. Others mess up your equipment/supplies in your ministry area
 No clear plan of how to deal with this
 No communication between ministries using the same space
 Inadequate storage areas
 Need bigger church!