We must not overlook our role as a connector. We have the responsibility to bring people together for a common purpose. The most effective way to get this done is through relationships. The connector may consider themselves some sort of ministry match-maker. Browse your church long enough to find two people who might work well together. We need to be careful not to objectify those who we wish to connect. It would be nice if there interest in bible memory or prison ministry would be enough for them to forge a lasting relationship. The truth is that we are the most meaningful common-bond between the people who serve in our church.

Chris Ernst and Donna Chrobot-Mason wrote a book titled Boundary Spanning Leadership. They define a connector as someone who can, “forge ties that are anchored in strong relationships… authentic, trust-based relationships.”[1] A connector is someone who can unite two people relationally out of his or her own relationship with those two people. If my aim is to unite two different volunteers then I must begin with my own relationship with each volunteer. I think that pastors often think that they can skip this step and may feel like a sort of relational middle-man. Senior pastors, those who are responsible for the largest amount of leaders, have a special challenge in this regard. Many large churches host a large staff and the pastor must develop a strategy for connections to be made between key members of the staff. How are these connections made? They are made through mutual relationships with other leaders.

You must become an effective connector. Churches who lack this social function fail to span boundaries and become compartmentalized. Those who can master this skill open up many new and creative ways to be the church.