You’ve got great people in leadership roles at your church. At all levels of your ministry—in your church nursery, preschool, Sunday school, youth group, and adult small group ministry—they’re helping the church succeed. But there is always room for learning and growth. As the head pastor of a church, it’s your duty to equip these excellent church leaders for continued success in their roles.

The first step to equipping your leaders? Give them the proper tools! Of course, pens, craft supplies, and diapers are all great—but those are the essentials needed to help ministries run smoothly. There are a variety of other resources you can provide to church leaders that go far beyond the bare minimum—and help them do the same. Here are three suggestions to get started:

Digital tools

Church leaders have a lot to do in all facets of their ministry. From the organizational to teaching, there are many tools that can help support them and make their ministry run more smoothly.

Consider investing in a scheduling tool or calendar to help your leaders coordinate events and volunteers. Paving a way for more clear communication sets both them and your church’s volunteers up for success. Along the same lines, monthly e-newsletters help leaders communicate key development and faith milestones with students and families. This maximizes their weekly efforts by keeping their ministry at the forefront of student’s minds even outside of the classroom.

Some of the most helpful tools may simply be free apps that church leaders can download. Polling software, trivia platforms, and prayer apps can all be useful tools for them to use to stay more connected to their ministry group and keep that group engaged throughout their class.

Learning resources

 When it comes to equipping your leaders, training should be constant. Once a year leadership retreats—while still a nice experience—won’t fully form and equip your leaders. Instead, help make leadership development ongoing by connecting leaders to the information they need.

This could mean getting your church leaders in touch with others—inside or outside of your congregation—who can help them by sharing ideas and experiences. Maybe it means purchasing your team occasional books that you think would benefit your overall ministry mindset. Or even forwarding articles you read online that are pertinent to individual leaders’ ministries.

Perhaps you encourage your leaders to subscribe to a great blog (we can think of one!) that provides ongoing, relevant information for them. Doing so will empower them to own their learning.

Teaching—not creating—curriculum

 Not every great church leader’s strength is in curriculum development. Even if this is a strong suit, coming up with faith formation lessons is a time-consuming process. It can take away from other important aspects of a leader’s job.

Using a preset curriculum allows church leaders to focus their energy on fun activities and building relationships with students. It ensures they don’t spend their time and energy putting together a lesson that may or may not resonate. Curricula come with strategic activities and suggestions that cater to students needs and your unique circumstances—like teaching to a one-room Sunday school.

This is just the start of what you can do to create leaders across your ministry! Ready to learn more? Check out the FREE e-book from Sparkhouse and theologian Will Willimon: Creating Leaders Across Your Ministry