Connecting with Your Local Pastor

Connecting with your local ministry partner is the first step to ensuring the foundation for long-term relationship is made. Here are some tips for ensuring that you can connect well during the week.

Sit down face to face with your local host

Take the time to have a face to face conversation early in the week with your pastor. Have a staff member or local representative of the organization you are with be present.

• Introduce yourself and your team. Share for 3-4 minutes about you personally, your church and your excitement for the week. 
  
  
• Stop talking! Be sure to open up the floor to your host pastor to speak freely. Tell him/her that you want to hear all about their life and ministry. 
  
  
• Ask leading questions. If the conversation is struggling, just remember that for a pastor, it may feel a little odd to speak about themselves so much. Ask them leading questions that help them share about their life, family and church. 
  
  
• Ask about their goals, dreams and visions for their community and church.
  
  
• As the discussion goes on, take notes about these responses, they are important for long-term support.
  
  
• Share about your desire to serve UNDER their leadership
• Share for 1-2 minutes about your desire for your churches to serve alongside one another.
• Explain the importance of serving under their local leadership, not imposing your own leadership upon them.
• Tell them you want them to have the freedom and security to say “no” to any ideas or desires you have for ministry.
  
  
• Tell them your goals. That you are looking for long-term partnership, real connection and relationship and ministry that is real and sustainable. Share your heart for reaching the nations. 
  
  
• Pray together. 

Sit the local host down with your whole team

Ask your local host to share their testimony with the team. Don’t leave out family details - are they married? Have kids? 

Ask them to share their vision and dreams with the whole team - this is important for long-term buy in from your team and sets the stage for long-term partnership. 

Pray over them and their family during the week

Local pastor and partners highly desire connection and prayer. Take time to pray over them! Pray over the multiple times, with the whole team present if possible!

Give a gift

Gifts are universal. A small plaque, photo or gift are always an excellent thing to present at the end of the week serving together, to show your thankfulness.