Planning a Team Night

Jun Del Valle

April 6, 2023
5 min read

We wanted to create a time to pour back into the teams that pour so much of themselves into our church.

Jun Del Valle

Each person is created with a unique blend of God-given gifts, strengths, and talents. God designed us intentionally and masterfully, with a purpose in mind. Because we represent different attributes of God’s character, we are all equipped to contribute in our own way. 

There’s a role for everyone to put their gifts into action to serve the church. At VOUS, we have several teams that are vital to making church happen week in and week out, meaning there are many opportunities for people to discover their gifts and step into their purpose. 

We set aside time to gather our teams together a few times each year. Week after week, our servant leaders create space for people to come to church and encounter Jesus. We want to create a time to pour back into the teams that pour so much of themselves into our church. Enter: team nights.

The purpose behind team nights is to bring our servant leader teams together for a night of leadership development. These nights allow us to train our teams, be aligned under the same vision for the season, and stay connected to everything happening in the life of our church. We understand that healthy things grow, and we have a responsibility to steward the health of our teams. Team nights are the perfect opportunity to invest in our servant leaders.

Team nights have become part of the rhythm of our church. Here are a few practical elements we consider as we prepare.

1. Structure

We host team nights every season. We’ve talked about the seasonal model we follow in another article — check it out here if you want to know more. Because we have several teams to include in a few short months, we group our departments together:

Care and Crew

Creative, Worship, and Production

Operations

Next Gen (VOUS Kids and VOUS High)

2. Programming

There is a lot of thought that goes into team night programming. We want our teams to be cared for and encouraged while also establishing practical goals and expectations. The flow is consistent for all departments. 

Typically on Sundays, teams serve together during the same service, meaning they don’t always have the opportunity to sit together during service. We wanted to create a space for this to happen. The night begins with everyone gathered in the auditorium. We worship together and hear an encouragement from a key leader in that department, either a staff member or a seasoned servant leader. The auditorium is set up similarly to a Sunday service, and we closely monitor our RSVP counts to ensure the environment that is curated to those attending. This helps us set up the correct amount of seating. 

After we gather together in the auditorium, we break off into workshops. Each workshop is intentionally set up in a different area of the church to separate what each moment provides. Gathering together in the auditorium creates space for ministry moments, while workshops lean toward more practical content. 

During workshops, teams gather separately to go through team-specific line items. We celebrate wins from the last season, review playbooks, honor team members and welcome new members, and look ahead to events and projects in the upcoming season. Workshops are led by staff, high-level servant leaders, or outside professionals. Communication with workshop leaders starts weeks in advance so we can help coordinate anything they need (TV access, speakers, printouts, etc.) to ensure their workshop is set up for success.

We choose a team night theme for every team night in a season. This helps keep our teams united even though we are separated by department. The theme is selected from a general leadership principle — this might come from a book or podcast, a teaching from the platform, or a teaching that’s given internally to staff. The theme is always pulled from this question: how can we sow into our teams and resource them to continue becoming who God has created them to be?

3. Community

After the programmed portion of the night is finished, we all head over to a restaurant to break bread and fellowship together. We want to deepen the connections with our team members, building real community with each other and bringing new team members into the family. We are always widening our circles as a team. 

There is biblical significance to breaking bread together. Just as Jesus shared many meals with his disciples, we believe that sharing a meal as a team creates memories and strengthens friendship. Fellowship is a crucial part of building a healthy team, and team nights are an organic opportunity to gather around a table for a meal together. We want our teams to build a community that strengthens, supports, and celebrates the wins together.

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