Ministry & Contributions

You complain that the church isn't going forward, but if anyone criticises your ministry, then they must hate your ministry or be against you personally.
What if your critic is actually for the church? What if they care more about what Christ had called the church to than your ministry?
It may me wise to filter your ministry through these standards: 

I'll get the hardest and obviously most controversial one out of the way first:
1. Is your ministry a financial drain or contributor to the church?
Let's remember something that takes the emotion out of this topic. Sunday mornings provide the cash you need to operate your ministry. You may have 100 people coming to your ministry, but if there is no transition from it to the Sunday service, and those people are just attending your ministry, then you officially have a drain (that is unless they donate directly to your ministry). What I'm not taking about are food kitchens or homeless shelters. I'm taking about your average mid week youth and children's ministries. Are they building up the church or are they draining it? Great, you have 100 students - maybe 50 different families on a conservative level- how many have connected to your church? How many of them have even attended just one service in the last year?
Unless you have some legitimate reason why there is no contribution, at the very least, don't ask for a budget raise. Maybe you need to re-evaluate your ministry and if it is really serving the church or just your ego.
If you say it's not about the money, then humbly ask your church leadership to by pass giving you any funds for your ministry. Your church needs money to operate, and operate your ministry.

2. How is your ministry contributing physically to the church? .
Are you making only messes and never cleaning after yourself?
Do you have so much stuff it's hard to make the church look neat and tidy?
Do you have redundant spaces... A prize cart and a prize room. 3 storage areas that are the biggest areas? Are you adding to the church or adding to your ministry?
The reality is, if your stuff doesn't ultimately help the church, it's ultimately about you and not Jesus. You can totally have things unique to your ministry, but does it hurt the over all church? Vines hanging from the ceiling with power chords in the second largest room in the church is a great example. You know, where other kids ministries, church breakfasts and lunches happen.
Keep it mobile, keep it small, and clean. If the lights have to be off for it to look 'OK', then your set up is probably not as quality as you think it is.

3. How is your ministry contributing to the church emotionally?
Do you drain your leaders? Do you expect more of your volunteers than is reasonable? Do you build them up or tear them down? What about behind their backs? How do you talk about their families? Again, what about behind their back? Do they feel as though you respect them or use them? Really?
You see, the way you talk about your volunteers and their families will always get back to them. They will stop helping if they feel abused, neglected, over worked, under worked, or betrayed.
Did you know how you talk about or to your own family will affect them, too?  If your a woman who always publicly talks down to your husband... If I was smart, I would never let you near a microphone for leadership. Never. Same with a man to his wife. How you treat your own family emotionally will directly effect how you treat their family as well as how they perceive how you view their family.

4. How does your ministry effect the church spiritually?
You may be teaching all the right things about the Bible, but if you're not taking care of the first 3 things previously discussed, you ARE dropping the ball in this area. Because as it's already been made clear, the ministry is about you, not Jesus.
The Pharisees had much knowledge and a huge prayer life. They were at 'church', every Sunday.
Knowledge puffs up, prayer can be selfish, and attendance means nothing.
Does your ministry encourage the church to pursue the calling of God, or chastise it for not showing up to help you?
Do you pray for your leadership to lead and guide YOU well? Are you expecting stupid things of your leadership and church? Be honest.

This may be over simplified, offensive, or even incomplete, but I do believe that if you sit back and evaluate through these questions, you'll at least be able to figure out where you're close to in regards to your church and it's health or success.

A practical step may be acknowledging you shouldn't be in leadership at this time. Taking time off may be the best leadership decision you've ever, or will ever, make.