Tag Archives: senior pastor

A New “Senior Pastor”

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Today was quite an exciting day in the life of the church I attend and am a member of. We have been without a “Senior Pastor” for almost three years. Today, we “elected” a new one who will be starting officially in September.

The vote today was the conclusion to a much longer process, starting about 4 months ago. It included interviews, background checking and reference gathering, meetings with search committee members, dinners including spouses, guided tours of our town, email and telephone conversations, meetings with elders, pastors and staff, congregation members, and other open meetings for anyone who cared to come to meet the pastor candidate and his wife.

Because my wife was on the search committee, I was able to meet and get to know the candidate much longer ago than most other church members. I was impressed with him from the very beginning and thought to myself… could this be the one? I confess that I wasn’t always sure given the nature of our church and the process.

However, as the process unfolded, and more and more confirmations and affirmations were experienced, we made it to the final week. This was a grueling final week of open meetings, to meet and get to know the candidate and his wife, as well as to ask questions. In one question and answer session the question was raised… “Why do you want to become our Senior Pastor.”

I was impressed with his answer. He stated categorically that he didn’t feel he wanted the position of “Senior Pastor.” But rather, in light of the gifts that God had given to him to study, teach and preach the Word (the Bible), and for visionary, strategic leadership, that he is most well suited for a role as what most churches call a “senior pastor.” He also specifically stated that he did not view it as a position to be filled, but rather as a role within the body of Christ (the church) he felt called by God to exercise.

In light of my understanding of the lack of a biblical basis for what most evangelical churches think of and call as a “senior pastor”, this answer gave me great comfort [See my blog post on "The Senior Pastor: Is He Biblical?"]. Although there will still be a danger as many within the church will want to put the senior pastor in a special category where he doesn’t belong, or on a pedestal with some kind of celebrity status, at least the man himself is aware of the problem, and understands his role correctly and biblically.

My hope and prayer is that perhaps through the ministry style and leadership our new fellow traveler (senior pastor), our church will grow in our understanding of the priesthood of every believer, that we are all called to the work of the ministry, and that each of us has been gifted by God to play an integral and important part in the edification and healthy functioning of the body of Christ.

Chapter 5 – The Senior Pastor: Is He Biblical?

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I am going to jump ahead in my review of the book Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna, to Chapter 5 which is entitled: The Pastor: Obstacle to Every-Member Functioning. The reasons for doing this are many. The church that I attend is in the midst of a search for a “senior pastor.” I am the son of a “pastor.” My wife is the daughter of a “pastor.” We both come from families with “pastors” in our heritage. Many of my friends and relatives are “pastors.” There are many “pastors” that I love and respect. I have even considered becoming a “pastor” at different times in my life. At other times I have decided NOT to pursue that!

But, I am reminding the reader that I am on a personal journey to discover – if I can – what about the modern “church” is truly biblical, and what is not. This means that I have to put everything on the table ask the question if the “pastor” or “senior pastor” as we have come to understand and practice it, is actually biblical.

Very few would disagree that the “pastor” leader concept is a fundamental, biblical “must have” in the minds of almost every Protestant Christian. And within the evangelical sub-culture of which I have most of my experience, the more specific idea of a “senior pastor” is also considered sacrosanct. It certainly has been for me at earlier times in my life.

But here is the profound irony. There is not a single verse in the entire New Testament that supports the existence of the modern-day pastor! He simply did not exist in the early church. – Pagan Christianity? Page 106

There is only one verse in the New Testament where the word “pastor” is used.

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. — Ephesians 4:1

Gulp! Not a very solid foundation for such a closely held “must have” tradition! Evangelicals are not alone. Roman Catholics have made the same mistake with the word priest. The word appears in the NT only three times and in every case it refers to all believers in Christ.

So, what can we learn from the New Testament about a “pastor?”

Barna and Viola point out that the word pastor is plural – pastors. They existed as more than one. The Greek word translated as pastors is poimen, which means shepherds. I think that we can safely assume that this is a metaphor for how they functioned in the church. Surely no one believes they were literally shepherds! If this word is a metaphor, then it does not describe an office or a title. The Ephesians verse simply mentions them, and offers no definition. Let us be clear then that we have provided our own meaning of the word based upon our own culture, and not because we have read it in the Bible.

Viola and Barna go on in this chapter to address and answer Where Did The Pastor Come From?

  • The Birth of One-Bishop Rule – Ignatius of Antioch
  • From Presbyter to Priest – Clement of Rome and Cyprian of Carthage
  • The Role of the Priest – Ambrose of Milan
  • The Influence of Greco-Roman Culture
  • Constantine and Roman Hierarchy
  • Constantine and the Glorification of the Clergy
  • A False Dichotomy – secular vs. sacred
  • The Fallacy of Ordination – Roman civil customs: Gregory of Nazianzus and Chrysostom
  • The Reformation – Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and the Anabaptists
  • From Priest to Pastor
  • The Cure of Souls
  • The Pastor-Driven Church
  • How the Pastoral Role Damages Body Life
  • How the Pastor Damages Himself

In each section, an overwhelming number of footnoted historical evidences, statistics, scholarly opinions and references are provided. You must read this chapter… it is powerful.

Of personal interest was the section on “How the Pastor Damages Himself.” In this section Barna and Viola cite numerous statistics including:

  • 94% of pastors feel pressured to have a perfect family
  • 90% work more than 46 hours per week
  • 81% say they ave insufficient time with their spouses
  • 80% believe their pastoral ministry affects their family negatively
  • 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend
  • 80% are discouraged or deal with depression

I’ll stop on that one…

I agree with Barna and Viola that very few pastors have connected the dots to discover that it is their “office” that causes the underlying turbulence in their lives. “Jesus Christ never intended any person to sport all he hats the present-day pastor is expected to wear. He never intended any one person to bear such a load.”

The authors go on to describe the unique stress the church places upon pastors with the unrealistic expectations, and dictated standards we often place on them. Many factors like this come into play to produce serious pathologies for many such as: loneliness, corruption, artificiality, lack of accountability, political games, and much worse.

I know of one pastor who discovered some of these things fairly early in his “career” and thankfully recognized it and has moved on to a much better fit for his gifts and service. I know of another who has served in several churches over the years, all the while battling serious depression. It has been a few years now since he left his “pastorate” and took a break. Thankfully, God opened up a new door of service opportunity in the church that fits him and his gifts much better.

There are many more personal stories that I am unfortunately aware of that match what Viola and Barna describe. I agree with their conclusion that our modern single-pastor idea has its roots in pagan culture and has no foundation in scripture.

The church at the beginning of the 21st century needs to examine this “tradition” and see if it measures up to God’s Word. If it is found to be lacking and wanting, we need to be mature enough to abandon it and follow a more biblical pattern.

I offer one alternative for consideration… team leadership based upon spiritual gifts. I found a recent article on this topic in Leadership Journal to be very challenging and thought-provoking. Read Next & Level, an interview with Next Level Church leaders in Denver, Colorado, who after a bad experience with personality-based, top-down leadership, took a whole new approach to what is truly The Next Level Church.

A Chance Conversation?

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Yesterday I attended a wedding and reception of a family from our church. At the reception I met and talked with a guy who has been attending for a number of years, along with his family. I recognized his face and name, but had never actually met him and talked to him. This happens in a church of our size with multiple services and programs.

The discussion topic soon turned to our church, and the situation we find ourselves in without a “senior pastor” for almost 3 years now. Without any prompting on my part, he offered his perceptions of our church and our leadership styles.

Basically, he told me that he saw our church and leadership as “not wanting to change” and unable to articulate a vision for the future. He told me of his experience and giftedness in worship leading and music ministry in past churches, and his frustrating experience trying to “break in” to the music ministry at our church. He communicated his utter lack of understanding of some of the decisions made by our leadership surrounding worship services, schedules and types of worship communities.

He told me that if our church wanted to reach our community, in his opinion we would need to learn how to communicate with it. He was very concerned about the younger generations, and how they would be drawn to the church if we keep going as we are.

He told me how he and his family currently decide if they will attend our church based upon who the guest speaker is for the coming week. If the topic doesn’t sound very interesting, they will visit other churches, always much further away, usually down in the city. They’ll just make a day of doing other things in the city.

To me the conversation was bittersweet. Here I was getting to know someone else in the same body that I belong to, in a more personal way. Yet, the topics and experiences shared were sad. Sad because I heard many of the same issues that I sense and feel and hear many others articulating as well. Themes like: general lack of direction, missed opportunities, resistance to putting everything on the table for possible serious change and radical renewal.

On the positive side, I was hearing from a guy who actually cares about the church – our church. A guy who wants something better spiritually for himself and his family. A guy with gifts and abilities who would rather use them, than not. A guy with a heart for serving in our communities, demonstrating the gospel by action.

What concerns me is what we will do about people like this guy, who are becoming disheartened, and disenfranchised, and are looking elsewhere – slipping through the cracks. By waiting for the “senior pastor” to come and lead us, are we not losing so much ground, momentum and opportunities? This guys experience and willingness to serve is one of the missed opportunities.

One thing that I take away from this “chance conversation” is that I am not alone. Many others are feeling like I do. In a climate like this, all it would take is for someone with some credibility and boldness to articulate a vision and mission for reaching our community in a new and relevant manner, and there would be a lot of people who would rally to follow and pursue that vision.

What does God want our church to do? Are we willing to get on board with His vision and plan for us and our community? That is the real question… and what am I going to do about it?