Thirsty Thursday – How are teams assembled?

     In an effort to improve communication in our VdC family, we’ve decided to do what we’re calling “Thirsty Thursday”. We all thirst for deeper knowledge and if you’re thirsty for knowledge about VdC and your Council, this is the place.  We are going to attempt to quench that thirst with posts here at least every other Thursday on a number of subjects such as: history of VdC, the NLS – National Lutheran Secretariat, council positions and details, our future plans, and much more!

     We would love to hear questions you need answered. Please submit below your questions or comments. You can add your name, but you can always keep it anonymous if you wish.

How are teams assembled? 

     Once the rector(a) is chosen, he/she must first pray for guidance and really listen to who God is wanting on their team. This is the most important step. This ensures that the team is built for God and not ourselves. 

     The rector soon meets with the leadership training committee. This committee is led by a council chairperson and is made up of 2-3 additional people. In this meeting, the rector learns the steps of this process, some guidelines to follow, and guidance from the committee. 

     The rector also chats with the spiritual director on council to discuss possible spiritual directors for team. They come up with a list between them. There can be up to five SDs on a weekend – 3 in the rollo room and 2 in the palanca chapel. Most weekends have 2 in the rollo room and one in the palanca chapel.

     The rector is asked to try to find people that have not served in each of the leadership positions before. The rector chooses (with guidance from leadership training committee) their rollo room assistants, support team rectors, SDs, musicians, and treasurer. Each support team rector discusses with the weekend rector possible assistants for their support team, also trying to choose someone who is new to those positions.

     Once all of the leadership team is assembled, there is another meeting with the leadership training committee and leadership team. At this meeting, the team learns important leadership information. This is also where they start building each team. The weekend rector first chooses the rollistas and table leaders and they may feel certain people called to certain teams. They will then share this with the support team rectors, along with a list of people that have expressed interest in serving by signing up either online or in person. It is also stressed how important it is to have new people serve who have never served before. Each team should shoot to have a few of these new people on their team as well. 

     Support team rectors may now start calling people to join their teams. Ideally, there are a total of 50-60 people on team: 15-20 in rollo room, 12-14 in palanca, 12-14 in kitchen and 10-12 in 4th day. Depending on time of year, location, or other factors, some teams fill up more quickly than others. Please know that if you request to serve, team tries hard to fill those requests but it isn’t always possible. Don’t give up, try signing up again for the next weekend.

    Once teams are all assembled, full team meetings begin just a few weeks before the actual meetings. These meetings are meant for team building, learning, and planning. Team members are asked to attend these meetings as much as possible. 

     Every effort is made to follow the guidelines outlined above. Great care has been taken to craft them over the years to successfully create effective teams. These guidelines are placed for a purpose, to build new Christian leaders. Rectors should be shooting for that goal when choosing team.