At our church we are looking into moving to ministry teams. We already have about a million committees, but our enlistment process leaves us with people on the committees who don't know their role and who sometimes didn't know they were on the committee. I had been hearing about teams, but I had trouble getting a handle on the difference between committees and teams. Often, committees are groups that have meetings and make decisions which decide the actions of other people. In contrast, Ministry Teams are groups that actually do ministry.
Teams are more intentionally results oriented.
Teams are more dedicated to blending varying talents in trying to achieve their goals. Teams consciously utilize spiritual gifts. In the old committee structure, spiritual gifts are often irrelevant. With teams, the church is not crippled by the departure of any one person, especially a solo styled leader. We all have seen the committee where the chairman, in deed and in truth, functions as the committee.