Every church has them. Every business has them. Silos go up when individual areas get caught up in their own goals and fail to work cross-functionally with others within the organization. It’s certainly not written in your job duties that it’s the responsibility of a youth leader to break down silos in a church. However, somebody has to do it, so why not the people who successfully work with a wide variety of personalities every week in youth group?
Silos always harm ministry. Ironically, silos most often form because individuals are passionate about their own work and keep their focus on their specific goals. Most folks don’t build silos purposely. So that makes it far easier to break down the barriers between various ministry areas.
As a youth leader, you work with the pastors, other education/discipleship areas, and maybe with the worship team. If you can remind ministry areas that within the bigger picture of the congregation’s call to mission, all areas are integral. You can start to break down silos and build up cooperation and unity. Use your relational skills. Show interest in the ministry areas. Look for opportunities to bring folks together to work on projects. You might even pull folks into your ministry area in order to help you and get communication rolling again.
You are a key leader in the life of your church. If you see barriers or lack of communication across various ministry areas, you need to help with solutions.
