Sparks Start Fires

Recently, throughout the drought-ridden plains of Texas, we have been able to see the terrible effects of wild fires; many of which were started by nothing more than a spark.  When land is ready for a fire, it doesn’t take much for it to be set ablaze.  In sharp contrast to the devastation that fire lays upon our physical existence, the presence of fire in the spiritual world is an idea that compels action and attention toward a particular subject.  Such passionate attention and action spreads, much like a physical fire, to each ready person near the fire’s source.  

Being the spark that helps your church create and sustain excitement surrounding the coming of your next pastor is contagious.  We, as staff members, are in a unique place to help our church begin to become excited about the coming of a pastor.  Especially when a pastor has been hired, there is a heightened need for positive conversations that support the future work of the church under the leadership of this new pastor.  

Staff is the leadership of the church while the pastor’s office is vacant.  It is critical for us to be the spark of positive conversations about the future. 

Be the Spark of Excitement and Anticipation for the Coming of the Pastor

Whatever the process is in your church that selects, interviews, and invites a pastor, there will inevitably be conversation and interest in that process. Small conversations will irrupt around you and will be opportunities for encouragement and investment into the church’s support of the incoming pastor and the process that is bringing them here. Investment is the best word to use here because the statements that you make in these circumstances are critical for the development of the necessary energy needed to equip your new pastor for the task of learning, leading, and loving the heart of your church. There is nothing more beneficial for the pastor than the support of the ENTIRE church, and that is the goal that you must have as you attempt to interject support and energy toward the future.

Supporting the process that brings the pastor is just as important as supporting the pastor. Committee members, Deacons, or Elders that work toward bringing the best pastor possible need to be supported individually. Each of these workers must be encouraged and supported throughout the process through words of affirmation, cards, or even treating them to lunch. Make whatever efforts are necessary to ensure that the energy of each of these individuals does not fade will begin to sap you of energy yourself. If and when this happens, don’t forget to take time to be supported as much as you are supporting others. If you can get the church leadership to be a part of this encouragement process, there will no doubt be encouragement for you throughout this process as well.

Don’t Fight the Pastor’s Battles – Future 2

The future is an idea that is as open as the sky. It has no direction, and has no limitations as to what to do and where to go. Before you get angry and say something like, “Stay in the will of the Lord;” I think you need to understand that the future is not dependent on our obedience to the Lord. He has allowed us (his people) to go astray countless times before, and has been faithful to redeem us when we run back to Him. However, He allows us to make decisions and reap the consequences of those decisions.

The decisions that we make today will lead us down a specific path, and from time to time the path we choose is not easily exchanged for another.

There are times when a lay leader or staff member assumes far too much of the pastor’s duties that the path that is being trod by their church is so unique and focused that the next pastor is unable to fit the mold supplied for them. In cases like these, the pastor is either going to have to make a noticeable break with the goals and focus of the church or make a noticeable break with the church itself.

Pastors who only survive 12-18 months in a new position are seen as worthless or lazy when more often than not, the goals of the church are so specific that there is no pastor who is able to fulfill the position requirements. And, if a pastor is willing to stick it out long enough to make a change, the community begins to see factions form within the church and even church splitting due to the rise of alternative leadership within the congregation.

Members of the church are forced to choose sides. They are forced to weigh the value of serving the pastor or the lay leader or staff member. They are often cornered in the back of some room and asked where their loyalties lie. This sort of conduct will only cause members to seek a place of peace, which will not be among your own fellowship.

Do not be the instrument of division within your church, nor should you be willing to stand by and watch others hack away at the unity that should exist within the church.

Your paycheck is not worth the loss of even one of the flock!

Don’t Fight the Pastor’s Battles – Future 1

The primary mission for the church wile without a pastor is to find one. However, a lot of what goes on in searching for a pastor and persevering in ministry without a pastor doesn’t take in consideration what will need to take place after a pastor is found. We, as humans, tend to fix problems with the easiest and most available solution. This is a process most apply described by the term Occam’s Razor which, at its most basic definition, indicates that the simplest explanation for a particular result or hypothesis is the most probable. The same type of mentality is used in churches when presented with a problem, especially when there is no pastor.

Vision is the fundamental element of the role of the pastor. The pastor is the one who searches the word, spirit, and hearts of the people for ministry that is effective both inside and outside the church. The role of focusing a church on a particular ministry, activity, or issue is something that is the unique duty of the pastor; as is preparation of the church for the future. Many programs, ministries, and other aspects of the church tend to be cyclical and contain many steps prior to completion. With this in mind, it is understandable that the pastor must be capable and willing to address future issues now to ensure the survival of their particular church.

When other individuals, namely you, are attempting to provide leadership to a church throughout the searching process, it is critical that you understand that a pastor will be found and that what you do now will have to be overcome when the new pastor takes office.

I say overcome for a reason. It is likely that some of the things that are needed as a group while the pastor is out will not be necessary after a pastor is found. Search Committees, Interim Pastors, Some Lay Leadership, and other programs may not survive the natural transition from pastor to pastor.

However, if your plan for the future supersedes that of your new pastor, you rob pastoral leadership and impede his vision for the future of your church.

We must remember that the solution for a particular situation without a pastor is most likely not the same solution with the pastor.

One of the most detrimental activities that can happen before the pastor takes office is that the future will be so constricted by the actions of the church that the pastor’s vision is rendered useless.

Don’t Fight the Pastor’s Battles - Present

If you are willing, please re-read the two blogs entitled, “Do Your Job Well,” and “Do Work Son.”

The reason I invited you to re-read these blogs is because they have a great deal to do with the relationship you have with the office of the pastor during the time it is vacant. It is NOT your responsibility to be the pastor, only to maintain the forward progress of the church.

Sadly, the predominant cause of a pastor leaving a church, in my experience as well as those in close proximity to me, is that there is some sort of unrest in the congregation about the pastor or even an accusation of improper activity on the part of the pastor. Even as I write those words, my heart aches over the personal losses to churches and pastors in events such as these. Regardless of the situation, churches loose ministry opportunities in the community and gain a reputation for corruption and back-room meetings, while pastors trade respect for rejection not only in their former community but, as far as the demon called Gossip can reach; the church is stained for the foreseeable future.

This new view of the church by the community affects no individual more prevalently than the ministers who remain in that church. They are rejected as though they were parties to both sides of the affair. They are hated for being two-faced ministers, and rejected for being pulpit-grubbing self-promoters. They are shunned inside and outside their church because of the pain inflicted in the lives of others, and for being the, “Hypocrite we knew he was!”

Inside or outside the church these ministers feel rejection, shame, and even guilt. I can see the faces and hear the voices of so many who openly accosted me after the resignation or removal of a pastor, as though I was the mastermind behind it all. Bitterness, on the part of the minister, is a natural response to this, as is an internal ‘need’ to fix the problem.

This, “I’ll show them,” attitude will win you no friends, nor will it grow your church. It is impossible for you, being that many accuse you for the entire situation, to overcome the weight of public appeal and win the ear of those around you long enough to change their opinion.

The mess that was made by either your former pastor, or the church your currently serve must not be brushed under the rug; however, it also not effective to grab your church by the scruff of their neck and rub their noses in the mess they just made. Though it may be temporarily gratifying to treat your church like a young puppy who just peed on the carpet, it will not yield a profit for the kingdom.

Please understand that the hurt and pain will subside, and so long as you and your spouse support one another in the home, the Lord will provide the strength to carry on. Continue to see the prize toward which the Lord has called you and wait on his strength, guidance, and peace to propel you toward good work, and the turmoil in which you now sit will subside.

Proverbs 3:5-8

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
⁷ Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Don’t Fight the Pastor’s Battles – Past

I have never been in a church without a past. Unless you are the one beginning a church, there is something and someone that came before you. Inevitably there will also be a great deal of turmoil in the wake of any previous events. For the most part, there is a great deal of inflated emotion concerning previous pastors. Pastors were either loved or hated and that nearly always creates divisions in the church; tiny fissures that grow into major chasms that can tear churches apart.

It is tempting to want to help your church overcome some of these unpleasant standards in their policy, polity, and lack of productivity. However, there is a fundamental problem with any such activity. The root of the problem is based on another individual at another time altogether. Teaching that led to such problems cannot be untaught, emotions cannot be unfelt, and words cannot be unspoken. To attempt to refight these battles, one-by-one would be to revisit the painful past without any possible hope of a brighter future. The only product of such activity will be to increase the distance between sides of the argument and to set the very existence of your church on a razor’s edge, where any push or pull could sever all remaining ties. The unified body would split into at least two factions whose existence would culminate into passionate opposites with every intention on superseding each other in all public opinion and the utter destruction each other through all possible means.

If you are one who might be reading this and believe that I am nothing more than an over-zealous cynic, I invite you to drive a short distance from your own city and find a Sunday paper in another county. The Church page will be filled with titles like:

First Baptist Church

South Side Baptist

North Point Community

Trinity

Trinity Baptist

Calvary Temple

First Assembly

Spanish Assembly

St. Joseph’s United Methodist

First United Methodist

Straight and Narrow Baptist

Agape Fellowship

Bridgepoint

Cornerstone

First Foursquare

Independent Believer’s Fellowship

Etc.

And though you might attempt to justify each of these by saying, “To each his own,” you must admit that this is a lot of churches for a town of only 465.

Churches have split over the most insignificant things imaginable. For instance, I was a minister at a church that had a group of people leave our fellowship and begin a house church because we had sandwiches for a Sunday night fellowship. Having voiced their concern that sandwiches were too Low-Class for “The Lord’s Day,” the felt it necessary to exit our congregation and begin a more deliberate worship setting. As far as I know, they are still deciding what to call themselves, I think it is between ‘First Casserole” and “Pot-Luck Fellowship.’

Ministers who find themselves in such a situation must attempt to help heal wounds and clear the air for future ministry, but they must not attempt to do things that only the Holy Spirit can do. This harkens back to another post, “Do Your Job Well!” No wiser words can be spoken when deliberation of past hurts and wrongs begin to arise. This activity will help to protect you, as well as keep the church focused on current issues.

Make today matter in the life of your church and the past just might be allowed to rest in peace.

Power, Authority, and Responsibility

Power is the fundamental undermining element in the struggle between politics and structure; the investment into the church to obtain power or prestige. It is also the element of transition that can conquer any church when the pastor’s office is vacated. When power is moved or abandoned, a political vortex is created which can corrupt every aspect of ministry and positive influence in the church’s inner and exterior community. Influence is not the same as power, but power can make influence oppressive rather than constructive.

The interesting element to this situation is that the presence of such a political vortex necessitates a focus from the church and her staff on power itself. One might assume, just as I did early in my ministry without a pastor, that power and the pursuit of such power should be abandoned and pushed to the corner of the room in order that the church would be able to focus what ‘truly matters.’ Conversely, when power is available, but leadership does not take an active role in dividing responsibility, those who might assume power for personal gain will gladly take such an opportunity.

Responsibility being divided will be unique to every church, and we have already discussed these issues to some extent. The main point is that each member of the leadership group, including you, must make sacrifice to fulfill the needs of the church.

Power on the other hand should be actively funneled to the Holy Spirit. Coming from a Baptist church, I am aware of the way that some churches are hesitant to relinquish control of the activities, programs, worship services, and other endeavors to the Holy Spirit. However, it is critical that the Holy Spirit be in soul possession of power. The Holy Spirit must be given this power in order that the church not be guilty of making themselves idols any longer than they already have.

The most effective way for a person, other than the senior pastor, to begin the process relinquishing power and authority to the Holy Spirit is through the reading of scripture in the presence of the entire congregation. The reading of scripture is a humbling process and displays each element of proper leadership in this trying time. It is the assumption of responsibility and the relinquishing of authority and power to the Holy Spirit through the scripture that is above dispute.

Power hungry individuals will be unable to dispute the authority of the scripture and each of the leadership will be actively involved in the lifting up of the Holy Spirit. Though the process may be slow, the focus of the church will be continuously propelled toward the only one who is worthy of focus, worship, and adoration.

Politics vs. Structure

Most people absolutely HATE the idea of politics in the church, and for good reason. The seeking of power inside the body of believers is one of the most disgusting and repulsive activities that some people engage. However, structure is a necessary element of any group of people, and is often the predecessor to the power-grubbing process we call politics. Though the political agenda of some people is something to be guarded against, the structure of responsibility is necessary in order that all work not be done by one person as well as to ensure that all areas of ministry are adequately completed and attended to.

Even Moses and the Israelites were not above having a group of elders who divided the work in order that all may be ministered to. Exodus 18 indicates this type of systematic structure to deal with complaints and the judgments of arguments within the camp. For one person to attempt to coordinate the affairs and discrepancies of an entire people is ridiculous, therefore, partnerships with wise elders is necessary for the proper facilitation of these duties.

No matter what your denominational background may be or the structure that is set up in your church, it is necessary to know this structure and the people who work in it. It is also necessary to be an active member of this structure and to conduct yourself in a fashion that is above reproach.

Structure is not the enemy, nor is the passage of time when it is used to seek the wisdom of the scripture and the guidance of the spirit. The product of structured church work that must be avoided is stagnation and power. The Almighty is the only true judge, and is awesome and powerful. He, being without fault, will incite his people to good work as well as provide all power and energy necessary to accomplish this good work. Our groups of elders and pastors must work together to accomplish His work instead of our own. To know these people well, and work fervently with one another to accomplish the work of the Kingdom should be our goal as we find ourselves a part of the organizational structure of our church.

Know Your Church Leadership

Not only is it necessary to know the hierarchal structure that is expected at your church, which we will discuss in a future post, you must begin to interact with and get to know the individuals that help to lead your church. As a staff member or lay person, you will never be able to fulfill the role of the pastor’s office on your own, nor should you try. It is important that you begin to tighten the connective tissues between the leaders of your church. It is also impossible for you to create or strengthen the relationship between two other people, no matter how hard you try. You are only able to impact the relationships that you have with other people.

Invest in these people!

One of my foremost failures when dealing with the loss of a pastor has been the underdeveloped nature of my relationship with the other leaders of the church. It is difficult to begin to pick up reigns when other people are holding slack those tethers. When you as a leader have not introduced yourself as a person to whom the church can turn in times of trouble, when troubled times come, you may not be able to be viewed this way at all.

No matter what your relationship situation is when you lose a pastor, YOU must make it a priority to get to know these other families and leaders. Take them to dinner, invite them to your home, and don’t restrict your conversation to matters of the church. Invest in them as though there was no ulterior motive. Just as we discussed with the timeline, make sure you create relationships that will outlast the absence of the pastor.

Time Moves at a Necessary Pace

Please read Luke 19:11-27

Time is one of the things that we as humans hate to abide due to the fact that we are unable to control it. Since we have no way of manipulating time, we naturally see it as our adversary, when in fact, it is a supernatural tool used by the almighty to help us grow and develop into the individuals and groups that we must be to begin to do the good work that he desires of us.

Understand that the time that passes between the moment that a pastor vacates the office he holds to the point at which the Almighty directs another to assume such that vacant position, the group that remains is on a journey of growth and reconciliation in preparation of that coming as well as the work that must be done for the Kingdom of God. You as a leader in the church during the absence of the pastor must not only know that the time that elapses from one pastor to another is necessary, but understand that its movement is paced for your progress and for the completion of the tasks necessary to be prepared for this new shepherd.

FAR too often the pace that is desired by a church is hasty and foolish. We want our pastor and church to mature like a Hot-Pocket in a micro wave oven…and when we follow such an impatient timeline that is more-or-less what we get. We find ourselves with a pastor that is only slightly passionate for the people of the church and clothes himself like a soggy, undercooked crust of what otherwise might be a filling meal only briefly concealing the cold and often frozen center of the hearts of people who have not been prepared for Good Work.

Instead, we must take each step of a timeline and do good work to prepare the church for the true work that lies ahead. Keeping in mind that the meal being prepared for the fellowship of the believer must be much more than a pizza-filled pastry, we prepare ourselves for the feast provided by the Holy Spirit of God. Time and effort must be invested in the preparation of our people as well as ourselves; that we might find ourselves having produced a profit with the minas with which we have been entrusted.

See Value in the Timeline

One of the most valuable aspects to having a real understanding of the timeline involved in the pursuit of a pastor, as well as the time spent without a pastor in a church is the active involvement of the membership and leadership of the church while there is a noticeable need for such involvement. A properly formed timeline can help the entire church prepare for a pastor because they begin to see needs for activity as they are associated with marked goals and agendas for the production of a church that is ready for a pastor.

Sadly, pastors leave churches under a cloud of turmoil far too often. These are times when the leadership of that particular church must produce a timeline that is concrete, concise, and goal oriented. Such a timeline will help those ready to work know what is most important at that particular moment, as well as those who are not yet ready to work but are being developed into future leaders and workers for you church. Keeping in mind that the timeline must be able to change at any time will help you to maintain a living nature to your church instead of falling into the trap of a one size fits all approach to this critical time in the life of your church.