Welcome to XPastor!
David Fletcher
XPastor has more than 200,000 visitors each year, hundreds of pages of documents and tons of megabytes downloaded each month. With this growing body of information, here are some suggested starting points.
Check out the following pages that center on the practical concepts of the Five Functions of Leading and Managing the Church - Administrator, Catalyst, Mentor, Minister and Overseer. The Five Functions are one way to objectively talk about the role of the XP. David's dissertation talks of the five functions. The Executive Pastor Indicator measures the five functions. This is free! When Sr. Pastors and XPs take the XP-I, then an objective discussion can begin about the role of the XP.
If you want personal interaction with other XPs, there are several pages you should check out. All of our events have quality information presented, followed by plenty of time for discussion and interaction.
David's goal in the XP-Seminar is to give content on the five functions and then present case studies. The format allows for 20-40 minutes of presentation followed by discussion in small groups. This is a directed discussion, but not a dictated discussion - meaning that the content gives a path to follow, then people can tell their stories and learn from one another. One is not asked to fill in the blanks. One must think and process the material to apply it to ones own church. The new kids on the block learn from experienced XPs, while the experienced XPs learn as they vocalize their experiences and share ministry.
The case study approach in the XP-Seminar is a widely used format at business schools, such as Kellogg and Harvard. This gives people an opportunity to hear a real world problem, discuss possible solutions in a small group, then hear from the XP who led the solution. Having the XP present allows for large group interaction on the church and the problem/solution. The purpose is not to make clones, but to hone our ministry through the successes and failures of others.
