What It Means To be Pastor -In -Charge

 

     Michael C. Loomis, pastor of Satellite Beach United Methodist Church, Satellite Beach, Florida, tells the story of his son’s sailing aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy.  Near the end of the aircrafts voyage, a cursive inspection revealed some critical problems that impeded the JFK from effectively fulfilling its mission.  A later inspection showed that no significant progress had been made in readying the craft for its work in the Persian Gulf.  Further inspection by an admiral from Washington, DC found aboard the ship low morale, unsafe operation, and that overall the ship was not capable of engaging in a successful assault against terrorism.  The captain of the ship was informed of these revelations.  Consequently, the captain, the chief engineer, and the air boss were all dismissed.  A new captain was selected.  However, the new captain would not set sail until everything aboard the ship, including personnel, were “mission-ready.”  

 

     This true story reveals the true status of many local congregations.  A careful inspection of many local churches reveals significant flaws that impede the church’s efforts to fulfill her God given mission.  If heaven’s admiral, Jesus Christ, visited and observed some churches, he would conclude that the captain, the chief engineer, and all of the others bosses would need to be dismissed.  A new captain would need to be selected for the morale is often too low and the morals are off the chart.  

    Loomis offers several suggestions that reveal the preacher is becoming pastor-in-charge:

• The pastor’s goal ought always be for the church to accomplish its mission in the most effective manner possible.  The church’s very existence is all about mission.  A church “without a mission is just on a cruise.”  The church has an assignment.  It lives by Divine agenda.  It is directed by God through the godhead, the Holy Spirit, towards its destination.

• The pastor’s objective must always be to raise the standards for leaders who have been chosen to help the church accomplish its mission.  There ought be some minimal standards.  There is a critical need for train leaders.  Some leaders must be raised from within the church and its culture.  But the point arrives when those unable or unwilling to accept the mission, grow personally, change their attitudes, mature in Christ, or improve or gain new skills professionally must be replaced.”  The pastor, in due season, must make these “hard calls.”  “If the mission comes first, incompetent or inappropriate leadership must be replaced.”  However, in some settings, we must struggle to work with what we have since we do not have much to draw from otherwise.  Yet, the Captain of this ship, Jesus Christ, admonishes us by way of scripture to “pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers.”

• Pastors perform their ministry, as does the congregation, under Divine orders.   It is easy for pastors to lose sight of Who called and commissioned them.  Such an awareness requires that the pastor is engaged in constant self and professional renewal.  From time to time, the pastor needs to be reminded by others in this cause for Christ that he/she is not engaged in a personal battle.  “The battle is the Lord’s.”

•  Pastors must maintain “constant communication with HQ (Heaven’s Quarters).  There are too many distractions and disruptions for pastors to try to do their work without constant devotion to prayer (both private and public) , study of Scriptures, and solitude for listening to and for God’s voice.  Some pastors need to either create or unite with a group that is covenanted to “pray with and for” them. 

• Pastors must, by the aid of the Trinitarian Godhead (Creator, Savior, and Sustainer) rise above the meanness and contrariness of those whom we serve.  We must learn to bless those who seek to persecute us.  In many instances, it is those who have complained about the condition of the church who are most upset when pastors undertake change and/or replace those leaders who are most ineffective.  Someone wrote an article some years ago giving instructions about how to swim with sharks.  Among the pointers was the advice, “If attached, do not bleed.”  I would add that if we must bleed wait until you have reached the shores where friends and family are waiting to bath you with hugs and kisses.  Better still, find a competent counselor or pastor with whom we can bleed out our frustrations and hurts.  In addition, pastors must work to ensure that we prevent or minimize the hurt and pain that wolves dressed in sheep clothing can cause to others in the congregation. 

• Pastors need to learn to live by faith.  Leading a congregation towards its mission can be a foggy undertaking.  In many instances, we cannot see the way we are going ourselves.  We must trust God to lead us even when we cannot see the way ourselves.  (Paraphrased from NETResults’ Vol.XXIII.No. 9, “What It Means to Be the Captain”, by Michael C. Loomis)

 

      Leading A Congregation through a Redevelopment Process

 

     From time to time, a congregation needs to be led through a process that will eventuate in its redevelopment.  Such a process is most volatile and risky.  In an article published in the October 2002 NETResults’s Vol.XXIII. No.9, Stuart Luce, pastor of St James Lutheran Church, Limerick, Pennsylvania, reflected on what he learned from leading a congregation through redevelopment.  Here are some of the insights offered by Luce:

 

• “Don’t Do It Alone!” - What a simple word of advice and yet how difficult it is for pastors to follow.  Pastoring a congregation is a very complex and often chaotic undertaking.  A pastor should search out among his/her congregation for persons who are open to sharing the leader’s vision and enlarging upon such a vision.  The pastor needs a team of members who are friends to and with the pastor’s professional ministry.

• Know Who Has Proceeded you - A new pastor would do himself/herself well to study those who went before.  Learn what led to his/her success.  Study what went wrong and why.  Every congregation reflects a little of what those who led them previously were about.

• “Evaluate and Accept the Losses” - Every pastor will have some people leave and others to join.  Where possible, ask those who leave why they chose to leave as well as ask those who join why they chose to join.  “When people leave a church, their insights can help the church improve and move us to make needed changes more rapidly.”

• “Articulate the Crisis When It Arrives” - Inevitably crises will arise in a congregation.  The pastor should have the wherewithal (sometimes requiring consultation with another able pastor outside of the local congregation) to pinpoint the nature of the crisis.  Many crises stem from persons’ “personal wishes” versus “what is best for the congregation.”  Pastors need to help persons refocus from “me” to “us” to “Him”. 

• “Stay with Your Principles” - If the pastor has received a vision of the future of a congregation, he/she needs to stay with the vision.  Surround oneself with a strong group who will support the vision and keep the vision before you through diligent prayer.  Too often, pastors offer a great vision but fail to persist until the vision comes to fruition.   Sometimes lay leaders are hesitant to follow and support the pastor because they have been let down by other pastors who did not follow through.  Redevelopment of a congregation is a tough process.  Never give up on what God is doing even when there are no visible signs of progress. 

 

                                                      “Beyond-The-Box Leadership”

 

There’s something new emerging among churches and pastors in this era.  More and more people are thinking and seeing beyond the box.  They are developing new and exciting ministries.  The following are some of the characteristics offered by William M. Easum, Senior Managing Partner of Easum, Bandy and Associates, Port Aransas, Texas:

 

                  Beyond-the-Box Leaders Think: Beyond denominationalism to partnering with other Christians to reach the city.  Denomination matters, but it is not now the dominant focus in local church ministry.  The focus here is on transforming the surrounding communities, city and even the world.  We need to forge a relationship with other churches which are committed to similar goals.

                  Beyond church membership to discipleship - The goal is discipleship not just membership.  What churches need are disciples who are committed to Jesus Christ, committed to an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ and to the mission of Christ in the world. 

                  Beyond one location to one church in many locations.  Space and property are not the determining factors in terms of the “scope, quality, or type” of ministry.  Space is only a tool that must require “innovative strategies.”  The one church in many locations has the “same core values, mission, governing unit, staff, treasury, and budget.”

                  Beyond church planting into a church-planting movement.  These leaders plan and plant multiple churches, sometimes five to ten in one year. 

                  Beyond personal leadership into triad leadership.  “Team-based, shared ministry is replacing the heroic model of leadership.”

                  Beyond one race and homogeneity to the multiracial, cross-cultural.  We are called to go into all the world and make disciples of all people, not just some people.  Beyond-the-box leadership is committed to the great commission.

                  Beyond institutional education to on-the-job learning.  These leaders believe in education, but “they have discovered that in the emerging world the best education is to learn while doing and being mentored by someone who has done it.”