life ministry might be the subject for one year. Evaluating and developing new small groups might be the subject for another year. Developing a program of spiritual formation was the theme another year. One new area would be considered along with the regular activities of the committee. Setting aside time for retreat gave us enough time to work through the problem and share dreams in a way that helped bring them to fruition. It also taught us that we did not work alone but with brothers and sisters committed to working with us. This gave new energy to our activities.

Remember, when I talked about recruiting new committee members, I mentioned job descriptions. The retreat is a great place to let each member write down his or her job description and ask others for their input. Another exercise I've found invaluable is to have each person answer the questions on the "Clarifying Expectations" worksheet (see page 27). Its purpose is to find out what a person thinks he or she is supposed to do, and what he or she thinks others are supposed to do. It's amazing how much resentment, frustration, and confusion you can defuse when Alice learns that Meg had no idea Alice expected her to be doing a certain task in a certain time-frame.

Here is how to use the "Clarifying Expectations" worksheet:

1. Give each person fifteen minutes alone to complete it.

2. Compare answers one question at a time in the group as a whole. Ask people to clarify and keep talking until you are satisfied that everyone understands how everyone else sees his or her answer.

3. Resolve conflicts among different expectations through discussion.

4. Write your conclusions in the training manual for this committee, so that everyone knows what is expected of each person.

You should be able to get through the whole exercise in two hours.

The key to a good retreat is to achieve a balance between relationship building, task work, and relaxation. You need fun time and good food, but you also need good task work and good

relationship activities because you're setting new foundations for future patterns of interaction and work.

CLARIFYING EXPECTATIONS:

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN COMMITTEE WORK

1. What is the purpose of your committee?

2. Within the overall and specific purposes of your committee's responsibility for ____________________________________________ who is responsible for what?

3. List and describe specific tasks and responsibilities for each of the following as you best understand them now.

a. The committee chairperson:

b. The members of the committee-collectively and individually:

c. The pastor or pastors:

d. Any program or support staff-such as secretaries maintenance people, etc.:

e. Interns, volunteers, or other committed persons: