My Response to Questions about Church Leadership

A college student at Capital University is writing a research paper on church leaders and their congregations.  He asked me to respond to the following questions.  Here are the responses I sent to him.

1) What is your role in the church?

Senior Pastor with responsibilities of overseeing the ministry of the church and the work of the paid staff.  Through my ordination, I am to focus on Word (preaching/teaching), Sacrament, & Order (the organizational function of the church.)  In addition, I seek to cast the vision of the church which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world.

2) What are the challenges you face as a leader of a congregation?

- To share the good news of Jesus Christ to a diverse congregation of all ages, political viewpoints, economic conditions, and education backgrounds.
- To grow a healthy and growing congregation in a secular culture that is becoming increasingly disconnected from organized religion in general.
- To share the good news of Christ in new and fresh ways while respecting but not being tied to past church traditions.
- Keeping people informed about the happenings of the church.  I do this through worship announcements, newsletter articles, church facebook page, twitter, but the truth is it's impossible to "over-communicate."

3) What are the challenges you see the congregation facing?

- Since we are a mainline church with a lot of history, we are sometimes not open to new ways of reaching our community with the love of Jesus Christ.  The key is to celebrate our past history while at the same time, seeking innovative ways of reaching a new generation for Christ.
- Also, in the past, (40 plus years ago) people in a community sought to attend the closest neighborhood church.  Today, people tend not to attend a church unless invited by a member.  We need to relearn what it means to intentionally invite people with us to worship and to share our faith journey with others.

4) What role do emotions play in your life as leader of the church and in the life of the congregation?

One of our five core values is "passionate worship."  The word "passionate" reminds me that there there is an important emotional dimension to our faith.  John Wesley, the 18th century founder of Methodism had a "heart-warming" experience at a prayer meeting where he "felt" an assurance that Jesus Christ had died on the cross for him.  The Christian faith isn't just a head religion, it's a heart religion. 

At the same time, it's important to remember that church leadership is a long-term commitment which means that I need to be an emotionally healthy person if I want to be an effective leader.  Clergy burn-out leading to pastors leaving the ministry because of all of the pastoral demands is becoming a real problem.  There are a lot of highs and lows in ministry and I need to take care of myself physically and emotionally so that I can provide consistent leadership.
.

Great Advice!

A friend of mine sent this piece of advice to me that was part of the Willow Creek Leadership Summit a couple of weeks ago. These were the closing thoughts from Bill Hybels.

1. Meet with God every day.
2. Read something good 30 minutes a day.
3. Review your replenishment strategy.

4. Decide to say “yes” to God every time the Spirit prompts you to do something.

.

I guess before I work on #3, I need to have a replenishment strategy! I think I do to some degree, but it's not written down and as intentional as it should be. Also, I'm always saying that I'll read something good each day, but since the transition this summer, I haven't made this a habit again.

.

Of the four things, I'm probably most disciplined in #1 and there is always room for growth with point #4.

By the way, isn't it cool that my friend took the time to send me and several other people the highlights of this conference to help us in our ministry? I appreciate the collegiality and support through other pastors in our United Methodist connection. We're all on the same team and we need each other.

.

Being a Christian leader means...

Adam Hamilton, Sr. Pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, the largest United Methodist Church in the country which has about 7,500 in worship attendance each weekend, was the opening speaker at the "Change the World Conference" today at Ginghamsburg UMC.

He defined an effective Christian leader as someone who helps followers of Christ become authentically human. Adam spoke at length on the importance for Christians and churches to be genuine and authentic in living out their faith. This is the only approach that will reach younger generations for Christ.

Speaking of young people (16 to 29), Adam shared that 40% of them have left the church because they perceive the church to be too judgemental. Young people are not leaving because they believe church people are hypocrites. They readily admit that they are hypocrites themselves. The difference is that they know they are hypocrites and church people think they aren't. Ouch!

Adam said that the church needs to reclaim Jesus' method of reaching the unchurched or the disenfranchised by authentically and genuinely reaching out to our communities and world through hands on missions like food drives, hunger walks, etc.

In addition to hands on missions, Adam also emphasized that the church of today needs to not oversimplify controversial or difficult issues and questions that people face in life like. Instead, the church should welcome people's questions and not offer them tired and worn out religious cliches. In short, and back to Adam's definition of a Christian leader, we are to be authentic.

Last year, I visited Adam's church in Kansas City, and it was easy to see that his church emphasizes hands on missions and being genuine and authentic in welcoming people, especially those who have honest questions about their faith and the meaning of life.

What does all of this mean for us? For those of us who are United Methodist, it means that the mainline denomination has a lot to offer young people and the unchurched population in general, who are living in this culture. Our own Wesleyan/Methodist theology is one that invites open dialogue and authentic Christian witness that meets people where they are. Today was a reminder for those of us in the church to consciously check our judgemental attitudes at the door and to welcome people as Christ welcomes people. And we need to provide several hands on mission opportunities in which people can participate (both inside and outside the church.)

For those of us who are preachers, our sermons and messages need to connect with people where they are and communicate authenticity and humility as we offer the good news and the hope of the gospel.

Maybe the commercial slogan of the United Methodist Church can be a reminder of what Adam shared with us today. We are to be a people of "Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors."

If you'd like more highlights from the October 24/25 Change the World conference, come to the Wednesday Common Cup 7 P.M. Growth Group at Faith Community on October 29. The Common Cup pastors who attended the conference will be present to share what we learned at the conference. What I shared here is just the tip of the iceberg!