Saturday, October 13, 2018

Hey Fletch … I am chair of a committee and we are in the initial stages of discerning the future direction of the congregation. Our current structure is to have a senior pastor and associate pastor. I am trying to get the congregation to think about some form of co-pastors. I have some church websites that have co-pastors and I would like to offer some church websites that have SP-XP structure. Do you have any that you would recommend?

DRF—As I read your question, I see two different thoughts. One pertains to a structure with a senior pastor and another is one with co-pastors.

For the model of a senior pastor and executive pastor, you can find examples of great organizational charts on this page of XPastor. Most churches have the XP report to the SP. However, some churches have both the SP and XP report to the governing board, which makes them peers.

For the model of having co-pastors, you could check out Christ Community of Tucson. I was recently talking with one of my XP friends there. They have three Executive Pastors who form the staff leadership of the church—an XP of Business Administration, XP of Ministry and XP of Preaching. There is no Senior Pastor. It is a three person staff leadership team and elders.

Making such a change is significant for your church. I would suggest that you carefully study various models and get input from outsiders. There are many local and cultural issues that come into play in changing a church leadership structure.

If you want outside input, XPastor does a comprehensive leadership assessment that also provides suggestions for implementation. This is fee based and gives a significant report with vital data points.