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 – 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.

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.

What Makes You Think This is YOUR Job Anyway?

Far too often we look at our lives and the things in it and believe, truly believe, that we own it. We think that the car we drive is ours, and that the house we sleep in is ours, and the clothes on our back (and front) are ours, and even the scratched-up Geoff More and the Distance CD we found while cleaning our room at our parent’s house last year is ours. We have deluded ourselves in to thinking that possession is truly nine tenths of the law.

We get out of our bed in the morning and skip our breakfast so that we can walk out our door just in time to make our way to the office where we stealthily avoid our secretary as well as one of our deacons while they not-so-positively discus our numbers yesterday. We make it to our office door and fumble our keys to unlock our door, and sit at our desk to turn on our computer and drink, what is now, our cold coffee and sit for the next few minutes posting about our ‘already hectic day at our office’ on Twitter; all the while wondering why we aren’t rewarded for all the great stuff we have done over the past year in our ministry.

Wow. That may have seemed to be a redundant use of the word “our” but it was necessary to indicate the possessive nature that many of us have about the things in our lives. We believe that all this belongs to us, and subsequently is under our direction, demand, and authority.

Possession is a lie! The truth comes from the word of God wherein we find the love the things of the flesh to be representative of an absence of the Father’s love in them.

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

We must begin to see ourselves as laborers in the field of the Master. We must see our work as being the result of His good will, and our payment far greater than the measure to which we have served. Workers in the field are not owners, nor do they have a claim to the land, but instead, they labor for the master to gather for Him what is owed to Him.

Your Job...

Your job means different things for different people, and while there are many interpretations of the same thing, a job description is meant to help focus a minister for the betterment of the church. The same is true for department heads and committee chairmen they need only look at the vision statement for their ministries. If you don’t have a vision statement for your ministries, now is the time to write one.

A great many people seem to think that the job description is more about control than direction. Though some situations may prove that statement to be true, the elements of a good job description will help to assess, and produce ministry opportunities for your church. Your job description is the very thing that your church created to make you ready for your job. To neglect such a document is the same as telling your church that their desires don’t matter and that you are a better judge of ministry than they. The validity of that argument is not the issue, the call on your life that was placed by your new church and the Holy Spirit provoked your move to your current situation. Therefore, the validity of the document and expectations from your current church are valid points for the ministry you hope to do in partnership with this church. Until you and your church adopt a new description of duties your interdependence rests on the assimilation of your current job description in your everyday life.

My suggestion is that you would acquire a job description from your trusty secretary and laminate it. In the event that you don’t have a secretary, get your fingers dirty by opening the files in that back closet…you know the one. At the onset of your day, you should put it in front of you and begin to pray about the items that you see. Pray that the Lord grant you the ability and forethought to assimilate the items you see throughout the day. Remember, this exercise is not meant to validate the authority of the job description, but is intended to validate the relationship you have with your church through the services you provide. When the church sees you working to accomplish the items they value most, they will see the heart that brought you to this job in the first place.

Supporting your church in every possible way also means that you will create peace when whenever possible. Peace can come, at least in part, due to a humble attitude of service from the staff; and humble service is the seed that bears leadership.

Ministry

Ministry is a word that is overused. It means nothing when we don’t want it to, and it means everything when we are trying to impress someone. Ministry must be more than simply a flippant word that we toss around to excuse ourselves from the office to attend a football game out of town. Ministry must be our heart. It must be the very thing that keeps us up at night in prayer for our people. It must be the thing that helps us stay awake when we drive across country to pick up a student who has lost their way, and what helps us sleep at night when the world, or even our own church members, hates us for the way we care for the lost and broken. Ministry must be our fruit.

When I say that ministry must never suffer in the absence of a pastor it is to say that our hearts must be aligned with the Father to the degree that our faith be not dismantled simply because our office system is a bit quieter. We must brazenly run to the hurting and give to those in need. Without regard to the faltering fiscal revenue, and with no thought to how we might pay the light bill at the church next month.

Ministry is the element of the church that will make it relevant, in spite of trends or cultural shifts. Ministry is the element of Jesus that made people flock to him. Ministry is why we have deacons, elders, bishops, and pastors. Ministry is why we have jobs and why the hurting have hope. Ministry is the overwhelming drive of the spirit in each of our hearts to make a difference in the world.

May the spirit empower you, may He make His light shine upon you, and may you make famous His name in all the earth!

The In-Between Times

A threat to the cohesion of the programs of a church during the absence of a pastor is the refocusing on Sundays and Wednesdays (or whatever days are your primary days of meeting). Though this is not a big deal for your congregation in the short run, it can create some negative habits in the long run. Members relegate their membership, participation, and personal ministry to the confines of those two days when they have done so for so long. We on the other hand, must use this shift in participation to shed some light on the ministries that can go on without a pastor.

When there is no noise, the smallest of sounds is clear to hear. When light doesn’t exist in a place, the smallest match can illuminate a room. The same is true about the absence of ministry. When a church remains idle for a period of time, any ministry that is visible in that dark place will shine bright and can help to reinvigorate your people for ministry on their own.

Keep in mind that this is not a ploy to get attention to refocus itself on you, nor is it a way to edge yourself closer to the pastor’s chair (each will be discussed later in this blog). This is a way to show the power of ministry. If we as leaders in the church shed light on ministry in the dark times, our church will become better able to see ministry in its true form. When we take youth to clean an elderly persons yard in the fall, or take our church choir to the nursing home, or we take our children’s ministry to the local children’s hospital for visitation, or we set up a car winterization program with our deacons, and we do these projects NOT ON SUNDAY, we illuminate their value to our group.

Not only are the events themselves more apparent by not being shoved into the Sunday Mix, but our people, being that they have to adjust their lives to participate, will better understand what an impact ministry can have on the people they serve as well as the people serving.

One event, done on a Tuesday evening…give it a shot and see how your group changes. See how their hearts become open, simply by opening their schedule.