The Pastor's Job: To Be A Visionary?

What is the pastor's job? Isn't it to lead the church by setting the vision for a bold future? My doctoral work has really pushed me to think through these questions. While I can't say for certain what the pastor's role is (this could be bad news since I teach a course in pastoral ministries at the undergraduate level), I believe I am getting a clearer picture of what it isn't.

Dr. Alan Roxburgh shares four qualities that most congregations look for when hiring a new pastor: personal character, ability to cultivate people, ability to cultivate systems, and vision. Of the four, two are valued higher than the others in the pastoral search: the personal character of a pastor, and the pastor's competence to form and communicate a vision and then motivate others to follow that vision. The two qualities that very little attention are given are a pastor’s ability to form people and to form systems and networks in a congregation. Thus, most search committees are looking for someone who has a strong moral constitution (read: won’t embarrass us by getting caught in a scandal – extramarital affair, embezzlement, sermon plagiarism, etc.) and can tell us where we need to be headed, give us direction.

This sounds good, but I believe there are several underlying problems. First, it is very hard for us to understand how influenced we are in church leadership by corporate business models. Most churches want a CEO (chief executive officer) to lead the way. The CEO has become far more than a metaphor; in very real and tangible ways the pastor is expected to run the church. This particularly becomes an important model when local congregations are looking for someone to save them from the perceived perils of a post-Christendom culture. As attendance slips, membership in the denomination wanes and budgets face uncertain cuts, people feel threatened. They look to the pastor as a hero – a captain who can pilot a sinking ship to safe harbor. Someone who can save the institution.

Second, implicit in the notion that the pastor should be the one to provide the vision for a church is the unconscious assumption that people shouldn't. People expect the pastor to be the one who dreams for the future, this is not the responsibility of common folk. The hierarchical structure of most churches reinforces the idea that the laity are merely passive spectators. The only time they need to act is when the pastor tells them to (or at least works hard trying to convince them to). The seeker sensitive model of church growth has only further established the picture of the senior pastor riding in on a stallion in the nick of time with a vision that will save the aimlessly wandering people of the parish.

Third, when the vision of the lead pastor and the vision (or visions) of people in the congregation collide, look out! Power struggles, alliances, and conflicts are sure signs of a CEO at odds with one or more groups in the congregation. This is noticeably true when a pastor and a board of elders do not agree because they each have different or multiple visions for the church. Which vision will rule the day? The vision that is championed by the person or persons with the most power in the institution.

Perhaps it is not the job of the pastor to supply a prefabricated vision for a local congregation. What if the pastor was hired for the two qualities that very little attention is given to – ability to cultivate people and ability to cultivate systems? If a pastor could do these two things well, couldn’t the pastor equip and empower the body as a whole to think together, ask questions together, dream together, and envision the future together? There is no room for command-and-control freaks here, even if they wear the label "emergent."

Where the people of God are, the Spirit of God is.

God’s future lies among God’s people.

I know what the pastor’s job isn’t. It is not to bring the vision to the people. It is to call the vision out of a people, to join in the work that God is already doing; to partner with, live with and dine with those who do not yet understand that they can be vital participants in the unfolding, ongoing drama of God’s kingdom.

Comments

[Linda]

You described so accurately in theory the situation that we fled in reality. Perhaps our new church plant (most of us out of the aforementioned church) has now swung too far in the opposite direction (no lead pastor at all) but we had enough of the CEO, control freak, my-way-or-the-highway kind of leadership. We had very little of the theory that you mention when planting our church, but we are dedicated to listening to each others' visions for ministry and trusting that these desires are planted in us by God for his purposes. And we try to practice the corporate discipline of discernment. We have struggled from time to time because we lack a central figure to help cutivate us and the systems and networks of the church. But it seems that when we are struggling the most with these things, someone receives what they need in order to take over the tough job of pastoral responsibility for a time. Because we are a small church, we have this luxury. It would not be possible in most mid-size to largish churches.

Perhaps one of the most important qualities that a good pastor could have is the ability to listen and listen well, laying aside as much of his own agenda in humility as is humanly possible. This kind of listening understands that for a congregation to be truly invested in their church, their goals and dreams that stem from love for God should be watered, fertilized, pruned, and cared for tenderly. This is the kind of pastor I would welcome to lead me.

[moses]

Tim, thanks for a good summary and recap of the central themes of the cohort--that God's future is among his people.

I agree with Linda too that we pastors lack the ability to listen well. How can we cultivate among leaders the disciplines to listen well with the people God has given to the faith community? And what would be the best way to learn to do the corporate discipline of discernment?

[Pastor Jesse C Murdock Sr]

How would I government a church?

First in all, I would Apply God’s Vision for my Ministry. I would have to be a true leader and to see that the Church have true leaders and people that have grasped God vision for their life’s ministry and living the vision. I would like to think there our two groups of people that would support me, the first is the Teachers and they are the visionaries. The second is the volunteers, they have good vision that I would look into. God has given me a vision to work with the teenagers and to have a good youth Ministry. I would work with the Youth Pastor and with an open heart. The vision that God have given to me is to work with each staff and to government the programs that we have in the Church. They are a good person that is call into the ministry; some senior pastor does not understand God vision for the ministries they are trying to lead. Some churches have little impact in there community or in the lives of their congregants. Now it is important to have areas is decade to growth. As a pastor I need to be aware of the importance of the vision and the clear understanding of my purpose for each individual in the church. Is not just to post a two-line mission statement in the weekly program, which is not good enough. All church has basically the same mission. God has give me a Great Commission and his vision to work a effective through worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, community service and relationships, is some of the vision that god have giving to me. Now all church has the same vision, Than God must intend for his church to compete with each other for people, money, personnel, property, etc. But that would creates a unhealthy in our church and desire to show up” or ‘defeat brothers and sisters lets take our eyes off both the prize and the enemy. The Scripture is quite clear that we should not compete, but we should love each other and serve each other, we are the same body that we work for the same goals. The Kingdom is not about our personal or group accomplishment but it is how we work together for the Kingdom of God. I am a Ordained Pastor. I don’t have a P-H-D or a Doctor degree or fancy college education. All I know is that God has called me . To teach and to lead his people in truth and in love. In his word, the word of God. If you are looking for someone that has a P-H-D or a Doctor degree or fancy college education that’s not me. But if your looking for a man that God has called, that’s me. Because of all the people in the Bible, God’s holy word was all called by God.