What is a Team?
There are several good definitions of the word “team.” Here is one possibility:
A team is a clearly defined group
that is committed,
trained
and coordinated
to obtain specific goals.
Think, for example, about a basketball team. Could the team members have success without 1) commitment, 2) training, and 3) coordination (the three qualities listed above)?
Characteristics that distinguish a group from a team include: 1) leadership with a clear vision and 2) a shared sense of divine calling. In a team, the anointed leader draws the members into a shared vision, helping them translate that vision into concrete goals and fulfilling them together.
To lay out the details, we say that a successful team needs a leader that:
1) knows how to develop a strong sense of commitment and motivation,
2) knows how to capacitate and train the members of the team
3) knows how to coordinate them, and,
4) knows how to articulate a divine vision in the form of concrete goals.
A pastoral team has all the team characteristics we have just identified. However, it also goes beyond that. Led by the pastor, it is the heart of the church and a model of the church’s vision. It characteristically ends up as a combination of a pastoral group, in which people care for each other, and a ministry team, which has clear vision and goals to work towards. It is usually limited to three to six people, who support the pastor and coordinate different areas of church life.
