One goal of your puppet team should be to develop ministry mindsets in the teens and leaders. You’re not just performing a puppet show, but using them to communicate important truths and impact the audience for Christ. To truly accomplish great things for God, each team and individual needs to develop a ministry, not a performance mindset. Let’s take a look at each one.
A Performance Mindset:
– The emphasis is on the performance more than the message. The puppeteer is more interested in what others think about their puppet skills than what is being taught.
– The puppeteers want others in the audience to know which puppet they did.
– The puppeteers look for comments on their performance. This is not for critiquing and improving their skills but to hear people say good things about their skills.
– Puppeteers tend to always want the best parts so they can showcase their talents.
– Puppeteers complain when receiving minor parts and don’t work as hard on them since they’re only going to be up a brief moment.
– Comments after a program are centered on how well we did rather than how well the message got across.
A Ministry Mindset
– The emphasis is first on the message, then on the audience.
– It doesn’t matter who does what puppet as long as everyone works together to get the message across.
– When a puppeteer asks for comments on their performance, they want the honest truth so they can improve their puppetry skills.
– Puppeteers work to improve their skills so their puppet won’t distract the audience from the message.
– Regardless of their skill level, each puppeteer understands that they are part of a team. Those with better skills help the others to improve their puppetry.
– The emphasis isn’t on how well I’ve done, but how well the team has done.
– Puppeteers work hard on each role they’re given regardless of its size.
Here are some ideas on how you can develop a ministry mindset in your team.
– Emphasize ministry instead of performance. Instead of talking about doing puppet shows, call them ministry opportunities. When giving encouraging words about how well a puppet looks include comments that the audience will better hear the message as a result.
– If you don’t have one, establish a team covenant with a ministry emphasis that each member signs. Review that covenant from time to time to keep it fresh.
– Pray together as a group during practices and before ministry opportunities. Don’t just focus the requests on the team, but also pray for those who will see the presentations.
– Include a brief devotional during practice to tune hearts toward God. It can focus on personal spiritual growth as well as the importance of outreach.
– Before a program, discuss as a group what results you’d like to see in the lives of the audience members and add that to your prayer time.
– After a performance, talk about the ministry results and not just how good the puppetry was. Get input on whether or not the team believes you reached your goals.
– When working on a play, encourage the team to adapt its principles in their own lives during the week.
– Don’t give your best puppeteers all the better parts, but spread them around the team. If someone complains their part is too small, remind them that ministry is about the team, not an individual.
– Establish a policy where the members don’t share what puppet they worked during a performance. That puts the emphasis on the team as a whole and not on individual puppeteers.
– Write a play as a team with the focus on communicating an important Biblical principle of the team’s choosing.
The main difference between a performance and ministry mindset is your heart attitude. Is your own life self-centered or God-centered? Do you have a ministry mindset? Once that’s settled, what can you do to help influence the team?