Sustaining Pastoral Excellence

Pastors are faced with a difficult task in connecting with church members of all ages. Many churches hire children’s and youth pastors to take on the special needs of those age groups. But within the adult population there is also a wide spectrum of ages, ideas, and stages of life. A book published last year by the Alban Institute examines this phenomenon, and how to thoughtfully and productively reach the younger adult population in churches often geared toward those in the mid-to-late stages of life.

Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation
by Carol Howard Merritt
2007

We often disregard the important assets that adults under forty can offer us. In the denominational church, leadership positions are given to people who prove themselves in some way. Usually they’re people who have a great deal of influence, time, or money. This makes sense. As a church builds its leadership, as pastors and committees search congregations for elders and deacons, they look for the strongest possible links to make up that leadership chain, and if that person has established themselves in a community by gaining power, donating time, or giving money, then it’s likely that they will be a solid leader in the church. They will use their influence positively, put in the valuable hours, and devote their resources to the work and mission of the church. Every congregation needs these important commodities to minister effectively.

The problem is that young people usually do not have power, time, or money. But they have other things: potential, creativity, imagination, vision, and ideas. As the modern philosopher Hannah Arendt explains in The Life of the Mind, if we look at a person’s lifespan in a linear fashion, we can see that a person at the beginning of the line looks forward, while a person at the end of the line looks backward. Younger people have a natural orientation toward planning while older people have an inclination to reminisce. …

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There are a growing number of books being written about “invisible” leadership - some backed by research. I have not yet worked may way through enough of these materials to have created a firm personal opinion. But I was intrigued that Duke University’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence newsletter included an article on this topic for church leaders. Although there is much to challenge in this article, there is also much to consider. So the link is below if you would like to take a look!

http://www.divinity.duke.edu/programs/spe/articles/200802/1.html

The Sacred Responsibility:

Supporting the Pastor We Have Called to Serve Us

Bradley N. Hill

Responsibility for congregational health lies with both congregation and pastor, but many congregations fail to recognize the sacred responsibility they have to the pastor called to shepherd them. Evidence of this failure can be seen in the alarming number of pastoral resignations that occur each year, creating a rolling brown-out in church leadership.

According to Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries, approximately 1,500 U.S. pastors depart their pulpits each month.¹ Approximately 23 percent of these pastors are fired or forced out, and in most cases the church never knows why. Similarly, in a Christianity Today International article, John LaRue reports that 34 percent of all pastors serve congregations that had either fired or otherwise forced out the previous pastor.²

The Nature of Nurture

Congregations, of course, rightly expect their pastors to nurture them. However, they also have a sacred responsibility to nurture their pastors (1 Tim. 5:17-19). There is a correlation between the health and well-being of the pastor and the long-term productivity of the church. Longer-term pastorates are well-correlated with effective evangelism and sustained church growth and health.³ The losses to a church from rapid pastor turnover are incalculable.

However, the pastoral relations committee (PRC) can play a key role in fulfillment of the congregation’s sacred responsibility to nurture their pastor. The PRC is where the agendas of church and pastor meet. When functioning well, the PRC finds ways and means to sustain the excellence of the pastoral staff. (more…)