Jesus-centred agendas

Few people get excited about meetings. They usually happen when we’re tired, take us away from our family or friends and all too often achieve frustratingly little. However, contrary to popular belief, meetings CAN be fantastic events that inspire and equip us to serve God better. How? By keeping Jesus as the centre of the agenda!

A traditional agenda can be so depressing:

1. Apologies [Explanation of why Doris’ knee is keeping her away]
2. Minutes of the last meeting [Everyone reads the notes and remembers how irritated they got last time]
3. Matters arising [Hobby-horses are mounted and last meeting’s arguments reworked]
4. Written reports [Someone talks in a monotone about papers that everyone has already read]

An hour into the meeting, nothing new has been achieved, half the members are fuming, the other half asleep. And then the main item for discussion is raised... No-one is in the right frame of mind to discuss it. It’s dire beyond belief. But we do it, out of habit, month after month.

So is there a better way? Well, quite possibly! Next time you organize a meeting, try this …

• Make Bible study and prayer the first item to focus everyone on the awesomeness of God.
• Make whatever item is most important to the gospel the second item. Doing this means that the really crucial stuff gets discussed while everyone is fresh and focused on God.
• Briefly pray between every main item.
• Offer biblical reflection on every big decision to keep Jesus’ priorities right at the centre of the discussions. And be clear about how each new decision fits with your church’s overall mission / vision.
• Leave all the mundane stuff like signing off the minutes and accepting reports until the end – people will be far briefer!
• And then finish the meeting in prayer. Commit the decisions to God. And, of course, pray hard for Doris’ knee …