Pastors as Leaders:

A survey I saw some years ago indicated that only %4 of pastors see themselves as leaders!  That explains a lot of what's wrong with our churches today.  If pastors don't see themselves as leaders, it makes me wonder how in heaven's name they do see themselves! I believe that most congregations do see the pastor as a leader, in some sense, though perhaps not in any sense that would traditionally be recognized in leadership models!

 

I hear a lot today about the pastor as "servant leader."  What's that supposed to mean?  Is the pastor to be the servant of God, or the servant of the congregation?  

 

The pastor of a congregation is its leader.  Several leadership models could apply without being unbiblical.  The pastor is the shepherd.  The pastor is certainly a servant, provided we understand that servanthood as being accountable to God.  (We dare not make the pastor simply an errand boy for whatever jobs are left undone by the congregation.)  Other biblical models could probably be cited.

 

The pastor is also the chief administrative officer of the church.  The pastor is, in a sense, the CEO--in many cases, the only full-time staff person there is who has the responsibility of running the operation on a daily basis.

 

The pastor is also the leader in the sense of formulating a vision, a direction in which the church should go.  I once met a pastor who said that he never put forward any ideas of his own to his main governing body within the church.  All the ideas came from his congregation.  I don't entirely believe him.  I think he planted seeds, made informal suggestions in casual situations, dropped hints.  He may not have formally dropped many new ideas for the first time when his board was in formal session; but his church was fairly successful; and I think he had something to do with setting the tone for that success.  If he didn't, he wasn't totally doing his job.

 

Too many pastors cannot effectively exercise leadership because they're not fully honest with their congregations about their beliefs and what they really want to do as pastor of that particular church.  This is deceptive and condescending; but it's also up to the officers, pastor nominating committee, and other church leaders to make sure they know what a pastor is thinking.  A pastor should accept a call to a church where the church officers and the pastor have a common vision, theological direction, and goals for the future--or where one or the other are open to modify those views and goals.   Otherwise, you have a recipe for a battle ground between congregational leaders and the pastor for the whole term of the pastorate.

 

The pastor of a congregation is the leader in a very real sense--not an authoritarian leader, but a co-operative, facilitating leader.  Still, at times, the pastor is required to set a firm direction, based on conviction and training.  The people who serve as pastors and pastoral staff of a church should be up-front about theological direction and their own priorities and abilities from the very beginning.  When the pastor is transparent from the start, the leadership that pastor brings to a church has a much better chance of being effective, positive, and respected.  That pastor will be a trusted leader.  I think that these same principles should be kept in mind by all denominational leaders at every level of every judicatory as well.

   

Straight ahead!  See my blog at:   www.noblindbluff.blogspot.com