Saturday, September 29, 2018
Hey Fletch … I’m a new Senior Pastor. I love the role and thought that most of what I would do would be preaching. While the preaching is going well and the church is growing, I’m getting caught up in lots of program and policy issues. Help!
DRF—Many times our model of the church is taken straight from business. We equate the preaching pastor with a CEO. There are leadership comparisons there to be sure. There are also plenty of differences.
A CEO gives very few speeches to his company. By definition, the CEO works on executive issues. In contrast, the preaching pastor delivers 40+ original messages to all the stakeholders of the church each year. The executive issues in church are daunting—such as finances, facilities, board issues, safety, programs, recruiting volunteers, managing staff. Few church leaders are gifted with both preaching and executive skills.
Consider the model of the early church in Acts 6:1-7. In verse 2 the apostles say, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables” (NET Bible). Talk with your church leaders and staff about what your role should be. Find volunteers or staff to help with the oversight of programs and policy. Give high level direction to those leaders and then let them lead!
