In his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How
Successful People Become Even More Successful, Marshall Goldsmith points out that certain skills may enable a person
to reach a specific level of responsibility, but those same skills will not
necessarily carry that person to the next level of leadership; in fact, those
skills may get in the way. This came to
mind as I reflected recently on the situation that many pastors find themselves
in. Some senior pastors are in “over their heads.” A certain skill set has carried them to
places of senior leadership, but they often find themselves stymied as they
attempt to lead at that level of responsibility.
Most pastors in
Baptist life start in smaller congregations and move to larger ones. As they move from church to church, the
number of parishioners increases, the staff becomes more numerous, the
facilities become larger, and the budget grows.
The minister who was called to increasingly larger churches due to good
pulpit skills and the ability to get along with the people in the pew suddenly
(it seems) finds himself or herself with major administrative and leadership
responsibilities that require a different set of skills than those that got the
pastor there.
There are
exceptions, of course. Some ministers
have the opportunity to serve in a staff position as an associate pastor,
minister of Christian education, or minister to students and gain experience
working in a larger church, but this is not always seen as the kind of experience
needed to pastor a church. These folks
are often passed over by a pastor search committee because they have not been
THE pastor of a church.
The pastor of a
good-sized church (you can define the size) needs skills that were not taught
in seminary and he or she has probably not acquired in smaller
congregations. A key example is staff
team leadership and supervision. It is
one thing to supervise part-time staff—ministerial, administrative, or
custodial. It is quite another to work
with trained, experienced people who may be senior to the pastor in tenure.
Another ability
that many pastors have not acquired is casting a vision. Although “the vision thing” is often the
subject of satire among ministers, a church suffers is the pastor is not able to
align the staff and people and move them toward a goal that they all can
embrace or at least accept!
Developing and
maintaining momentum is another skill that pastors need and often have not
acquired. Once a vision has been
identified, the pastor becomes the “cheer leader” or “drover” much like Moses
leading the “mixed multitude” through the wilderness—from here to there.
Where can a
pastor acquire these and other necessary skills? Fortunately, theological institutions have
become aware of this need and are beginning to provide leadership development resources
for present students, alumni, and other interested ministers. Other organizations provide peer group, training,
coaching, and mentoring opportunities.
Of course, these resources only help if a pastor takes advantage of
them! An old Chinese saying is, “When
the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
If you are ready, the teachers are available. Take advantage of them.
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