Residency Reflections: Saddleback Church’s Brittany Crimmel on Her Leadership Pathway So Far

Welcome back to the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Brittany Crimmel, a Production Director at Saddleback Church in California.

There is a leadership crisis in the local church with so many churches struggling to know how to find and develop people. However, by participating in internships and residencies, churches can contribute to developing the next generation of leaders. Listen as Brittany shares how her experiences as a resident helped to grow the leadership and people skills critical for her current role.

* Internships vs. Residencies. // While an intern at a church is usually around for a summer or a semester, a resident is around for one or two years. Residents are a long-term investment in leadership development where there is a leader who is invested in the resident as a person, as a Jesus-follower, and a kingdom worker, so they are not left on their own wondering what to do.

* Invest in growth. // In addition to receiving mentorship, residents are given opportunities to lead projects, preparing them for future roles. Residencies are also a critical time to help future church leaders develop soft leadership skills, such as how to communicate with people in different positions in the organization, or how to win volunteers to a cause. All of this preparation is to set the next gen leader up for success when they go to their first ministry job.

* Set expectations. // Clarity is critical in working with residents and interns. Remember that residencies and internships are seasonal and they have a hard start and end date. Make the duration and content of these programs clear to help both the church and the participants understand the expectations and prevent confusion. It’s important not to promise people a job at the end of their residency or internship. A partnership may come at the end of the residency if you decide to offer a job, but to protect feelings and expectations, don’t promise it at the beginning.

* Set your pride aside. // People may be tempted to develop a resident for selfish reasons, wanting to keep them at their own church. However, leadership development is operating in kingdom currency; it doesn’t matter if the resident or intern stays at your church. It requires us to set aside our pride and embrace a mindset of abundance, focusing on developing leaders who can make a difference anywhere. Supporting and championing the growth of these future leaders benefits the global church as a whole.

* A heart for people. // In the production world, technical skills and people skills tend to be in tension. As a production director at Saddleback, Brittany values people skills and system skills more than technical skills. Technical skills can be taught, but having a heart for people and the local church is crucial. If someone has a heart for ministry, they will be teachable and can be paired with more experienced team members until they learn the role.

* Show appreciation. // In Brittany’s experience, she’s found that production teams usually get the short end of the stick. As church leaders we need to show appreciation and value the work of our technical teams, as well as offer support so they can do their jobs well. Many times they don’t want to be called out during the service, so instead stop by afterwards to thank them personally. Offer your help with set-up or tear-down. Lavish value on them as sons and daughters of God and members of your church family.

You can learn more about Saddleback Church at www.saddleback.com and find Brittany on Instagram.