Wake up, church! It’s past time for the church and especially church pastors and leaders to wake up to reality. For too long we have been sleeping through a major cultural and societal shift.
Followers of Jesus are facing a megashift that is being catalyzed by the new generations, especially the Millennials and Generation Z, and the hi tech and low touch technology and communication that now drives the world. Other catalysts for this megashift include the urbanization of culture, the saturation of the worldview called postmodernism into virtually everything, especially into education and entertainment, and the migration and immigration of so many from around the world. Add to these the recent world-wide pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus that has shoved church and Christian organization leaders into the unknown and uncharted world of ministry in isolation. Like a wave of nausea, a sense of helplessness and hopelessness by so many has hit all around us. It is no longer a day of business as usual for the church. One of these forces alone should be the loud clanging of a morning alarm bell to awake the church from its slumber. Feeling overwhelmed yet? Most pastors and ministry leaders are, and they are seeking help.
Many pastors and church leaders today are expected to be experts in most if not all areas of ministry. Start with the old school stuff like preaching, counseling, administration, visitation, and evangelism. Add to these the promotion of the church, public relations, staff supervision, worship planning, conducting church meetings, leading communion, and conducting baptism services. And don’t forget marrying and burying. Solo pastors in long-established churches with an average attendance under 150 carry these burdens. Today these same pastors can add to this list expected competence in things like emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, skills in using office software and equipment, and staff supervision. There is also the expectation that the pastor will know much about and be involved in visionary leadership, church planting, strategic planning, mental health diagnosis and counseling, website development, and social media design and administration. Seminary training might equip pastors for some of this, but not all. Not long ago, I was asked to evaluate a description of what was expected of the senior pastor as written in the by-laws of a church. Here’s what was said in that document: “The pastor’s job is to do all that is expected of a pastor.” I thought, who in their right mind would want to take that job? Would you?
Ministry leadership is changing. But how will pastors and ministry leaders cope with the constantly changing needs and demands that pastors and ministry leaders face? The answer lies in finding and using a coach who focuses on helping church ministry leaders through a gospel-centered coaching relationship. Training is not enough. You need to add coaching to that training and updating of skills and knowledge as we will see. A skilled ministry coach can be what you need - not just do ministry well, but become a ministry champion.
Add comment
Comments