Church Administration Matters

Transcription

1 Church Administration Matters Greg Hickle Minnesota District Secretary/Treasurer STAFF RELATIONSHIPS When I served as a volunteer Police Chaplain, I would ride along with a police officer and invariably one of the first things the officer would say to me is, I m not very religious. I always responded, That s good, I m not either. Of course, they were surprised by my response and wondered what I meant, so I would go on to say, I don t believe in religion, I believe in a relationship with Jesus Christ. That often changed the entire tone of our conversations. Clearly the Gospel is all about relationship we see it in the two great commandments found in Matthew 22: We can summarize that by saying Love God; Love People. The centrality of relationships in the Kingdom of God is further amplified by Jesus commentary in Matthew 7: where He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven...i will tell them plainly, I never knew you. One of the greatest challenges reported by many missionaries has to do with relationships with other missionaries or missionary leadership. In the same vein, Lead Pastors of churches of all sizes report that one of the most time consuming, most challenging parts of lead a church is relationships with Staff and volunteers. If the Gospel is all about relationship, Staff Relationships within a church ought to epitomize the Gospel rather than be at odds with it. I want to deal with this topic by first addressing The Associate Pastor s Responsibility to the Lead Pastor and then moving on to The Lead Pastor s Responsibility to an Associate Pastor. [Note: For ease of writing (and reading) I will be using the male pronoun when I refer to a pastor, however please do not take that as not begin cognizant and supportive of the effective, God-ordained ministry of women in all pastoral roles. FYI I had two women pastors on my staff at Maple Grove that were a great blessing to me and the church.] STAFF RELATIONSHIPS: The Associate Pastor s Responsibility to the Lead Pastor Let first of all tell you that I developed my philosophy of an Associate Pastor when I was an Associate Pastor serving on a church staff, so this is not some disingenuous teaching formulated by a Lead Pastor to keep his Associate Pastors in line. And now that I m in an Associate position again, this is my operating philosophy. You may have noticed that the Word of God never really mentions Associate Pastor. Associate Pastors are more of a modern day phenomenon. In my opinion that is because the 1 st century Church only had one pastor and lay people did the rest of the ministry. Because of that reality, I think it s reasonable to conclude that the Bible envisions only one official Pastor being called to a church and everyone else working as ministers in the church, whether paid or unpaid; fulltime or part-time. I don t think that having Associate Pastors is unscriptural; I just think it provides a foundational idea of how we are to see the role of an Associate Pastor. That reality is the basis of my perspective on Staff Relationships --- Only the Lead Pastor is called to a church; All the other pastors on staff are called to the Lead Pastor.

2 Church Administration Matters Page 2 of 9 Whoa! Now that blows up the normal paradigm that many people have toward staff ministry, but I believe it s not only the Biblical model it is also the only practical and workable model for conducting the ministry of the Church. This foundational idea dictates everything about how an Associate Pastor fits into the picture of ministry at a multi-staff church. The clear principle is that there is only one head! The Staff must function as a Team, but there can be only one head. There are several lessons we can learn from the concept of a Team: 1. The Team only has one leader. The Church Team is lead by the Pastor in the same way that Brad Childress leads the Vikings. Associate Pastors, as well as Boards and other ministry leaders, are similar to the Coaches / Players that work with Coach Childress. The Head Coach / Pastor sets the direction of the team, he provides the game plan to fulfill that direction and he oversees the execution of it. Just as Brad Childress consults with his Coaches, so a wise Pastor consults with his Associate Pastors, Board and other leaders in the church. And in the same way that the buck for the Vikings stops squarely on Brad Childress desk, so the buck for a Church stops squarely on the Pastor s desk. And just as Childress is responsible to the owner, Zygi Wilf, for the Vikings, so a Pastor is responsible to the church s owner, Jesus Christ, for the church they pastor. It s Jesus Church - "'And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.'" Matthew 16: 18 (NIV) God refers to His Son as the head of the Church (Ephesians 1: 22, 23; 4: 15; 5: 23; Colossians 1: 18, 19; 2: 19). Jesus is responsible for the Church. The Holy Spirit calls Him the Shepherd of the Church (Matthew 2: 6; John 10: 11, 14 16; Hebrews 13: 20; I Peter 2: 25; Revelation 7: 17). Jesus is called the Chief Shepherd in I Peter 5: 4. I take it from that image that there is a structure in the Church that comes under this Chief Shepherd. In Ephesians 4: 11 where the Holy Spirit lists the offices of the Church, the Greek word for pastor is poimen, which literally means shepherd. That imagery is quite vivid as we ponder its significance. From these two ideas, we can readily see why people refer to Pastors as Under-Shepherds of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, Pastors of a local church are Under- Shepherds. As Under-Shepherds, Pastors are responsible to Jesus for the church they pastor. Back to our illustration because Brad Childress is responsible for the Vikings, he has been given authority to discharge those responsibilities. In the same way, because a Lead Pastor is responsible to Jesus for the church, he must be given the authority to discharge those responsibilities. Jesus has given Pastors that authority and the local church needs to do the same. Brad Childress leads the Vikings and the Lead Pastor leads the Church. In the Church, the Lead Pastor sets the course and the Associate Pastors assist him in moving the church along that course. An Associate Pastor s vision for ministry must compliment the Lead Pastor s and never be in competition with it or undermine it in any way. When the Lead Pastor charts the course, unless it is illegal, immoral or unscriptural, the Associate Pastor should get on board and do everything possible to help that course be successful.

3 Church Administration Matters Page 3 of 9 2. While the team has only one leader, only the whole team can get a victory! Brad Childress hasn t won a single game for the Vikings in his as Coach. The Vikings team has won the games. So it is with any Team, including in the Church. The leader leads, but it takes a whole team to get a victory. Ministry happens because everyone knows their assignment and performs it well. There are many callings and giftings necessary to fulfill the purpose and ministry of the Church. The image of the Body of Christ makes that clear (I Corinthians 12: 11 31). The eye cannot say to the hand, I don t need you! And the head cannot say to the feet, I don t need you! (I Corinthians 12: 21). Wise is the Coach who realizes this and recognizes the contribution that each player makes to the team s ability to win. The same is true of the Lead Pastor a little appreciation, both private and public, goes a long way. But this also provides the less visible team member with a true sense of accomplishment. The nursery worker owns part of the joy of a young mother and father giving their hearts to the Lord, while their child is being cared for in the nursery. In the same way, an Associate Pastor who helps their Lead Pastor fulfill God s vision for their church. The various team members are essential and all of them share in the victory. See Philippians 4: The Team must all be doing the same thing they must be on the same page. Few things are worse in football than a busted play. It is often on that sort of play that an offense scores a touchdown or a defense sacks the quarterback or tackles the running back for a loss. Someone didn t do what they were supposed to do and so it s a busted play and things don t turn out the way they were designed to. One of the ways that a ministry team is on the same page is by everyone understanding and playing the role they were designed to play. I see the ministry of Associate Pastors (and Deacons and ministry leaders) as akin to that of the Old Testament Armor-Bearer. They are Armor-Bearers for the Lead Pastor. That title Armor-Bearer might give someone the wrong impression of the true nature of an Armor-Bearer s responsibilities and capabilities. Armor-Bearers were often one of the most highly skilled warriors in the entire army. That s because an Armor-bearer doesn t just carry armor and weapons for his leader, he had the right weapon ready at just the right moment for the king to do battle effectively. Scripture mentions Armor-Bearers 6 times --- Abimilech had an Armor-Bearer (Judges 9: 54); Jonathan s Armor-Bearer helped him defeat the Philistines (I Samuel 14: 6 15); David was one of King Saul s Armor-Bearers (I Samuel 16: 21); Another Armor-Bearer for King Saul is mentioned (I Samuel 31: 4 6); Joab has at least 10 Armor-Bearers (II Samuel 18: 15) and Naharai, one of the 30 Mighty Men, is mentioned as an Armor-Bearer to Joab, the Captain of King David s army (II Samuel 23: 37). [You might note that some warriors had more than one Armor-Bearer just like a Lead Pastor with multiple Staff, Deacons and ministry leaders.] So an Armor-Bearer was a great warrior in his own right; highly skilled and capable of fighting well and effectively. But perhaps the Armor-Bearer s most important role was to protect the back of the king. Obviously, the leader s most vulnerable side in a battle is his back and so it is critical to have an effective defender protecting his back. Just like a

4 Church Administration Matters Page 4 of 9 quarterback is most susceptible to a blind side hit, so it is with Pastors. [Did you know that the highest paid lineman in the NFL is the left offensive tackle? Because he protects the blind side of the quarterback when he s passing!] Terry Nance in his book God s Armor Bearer, Volume 1 says, [The Armor Bearer] had the awesome responsibility of seeing to the safety of his officer. What, then, does it mean to have the back of the Pastor? We can find out by looking at the Hebrew words rendered Armor-Bearer --- naw-saw' primarily meaning of to lift up and kel-ee' which means to end; complete, finish, bring to pass, fulfill. From these two words we can see that the duty of the modern day Armor-Bearer is to stand beside his leader to assist him, to lift him up and to protect him against any enemy that might attack him. The specific duties of an Armor-Bearer as it relates to an Associate Pastor include: 1. Be the Pastor s greatest supporter --- a true Armor-Bearer will always display and produce an attitude of faith and peace (Terry Nance) --- we must never speak ill of the Lead Pastor. That doesn t mean we will never disagree, but it does mean that those disagreements will never be made public even to other staff! 2. Have a deep sense of respect for his Pastor and an acceptance of his leader s personality and way of doing things --- our goal is the same [to extend the Kingdom of God] even when the methods are different. Since God called the Lead Pastor to shepherd the local church, we need to recognize that God called him knowing his personality and ministry philosophy so this involves accepting God s plan for the church. 3. Walk in agreement with and submission to his Pastor --- we must remember that we submit to the Lord when we submit to God-appointed leaders. The Pastor is responsible to God for the church, so we must submit to them, unless they are doing something that is illegal, immoral or unscriptural (this rarely happens, most conflict has to do with personal preference versus something illegal, immoral or unscriptural). 4. Serve the Pastor by following instructions immediately, correctly and fully --- this is a reflection of true submission! This is easier to do when we remember that all authority in the Kingdom of God is responsibility-driven. The Pastor is responsible to God, so God has given him the authority to carry out the ministry in the local church! Note: It s been said, You can t be a great leader, until you ve been a great follower. (Matthew 20: 25 28; Mark 10: 42 45) STAFF RELATIONSHIPS: Guideline of Ministerial Ethics for Staff Pastors

5 Church Administration Matters Page 5 of 9 When I was speaking on Ministerial Ethics, one of our Minnesota Ministers commented, Ability will get you there, but character will keep you there! How true that is. I would point out to you that all of the qualifications of a minister listed in I Timothy 3: 1 7 and Titus 1: 6 9 have to do with character rather than capability. Here is a... Guideline of Ministerial Ethics for Staff Pastors Preamble As a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, called by God to proclaim the gospel and gifted by the Holy Spirit to minister in the Church of Jesus Christ, I dedicate myself to conduct my ministry according to the ethical guidelines and principles set forth in Scripture and in this Code of Ministerial Ethics, in order that my ministry may be acceptable to God, my service beneficial to the Christian community, and my life a witness to the world. Responsibilities to the Senior Pastor as a Staff Pastor God has called the Lead Pastor of a church to lead the church according to the vision that God has given him. He is, therefore, responsible to God for this church in a unique way. To fulfill Biblical standards and to provide the church with a Biblical model of how to support a Senior Pastor, I will Be supportive of and loyal to the Lead Pastor. If I am unable to do so, I will seek another place of service. In addition, I will be supportive of and loyal to my fellow Staff Members. 2. Not listen to disgruntled parishioners or other Staff Members, but instead encourage them to diligently follow Matthew 18: and share their concerns with the appropriate Staff Member, including the Lead Pastor. 3. Not share any disagreements I have with the Lead Pastor or other Staff Members with those in the congregation, including other Staff Members. Instead I will diligently follow Matthew 18: Remember that the final decision in any matter is the prerogative and responsibility of the Lead Pastor. 5. Always speak well of the Pastoral Staff, never criticizing them, second-guessing their decisions or undermining their ministry in any way, whether in public settings or private conversations. 6. Recognize my role and responsibility to the church staff and will not feel threatened or in competition with any other Staff Member of the church. 7. Maintain good relationships with other ministers of my area of ministry. 8. Be discreet in my dating practices, especially in relation to members of my congregation. 9. Resist the temptation to rally support within the church family, if I am asked to leave the church. I will leave the church gracefully and cause as little impact on the church as possible. Should I happen to come upon a major moral or ethical problem, I will diligently and discreetly follow the provisions of Matthew 18: If the issues involve another Staff Member and he is not willing to listen, I will contact the Lead Pastor to assist in resolving the matter. If the issues involve the Lead Pastor and he is not willing to listen, I will contact the District Officials to assist in resolving the matter. [It is important the other party in a conflict be informed that you

6 Church Administration Matters Page 6 of 9 will be contacting the Lead Pastor or District Officials for assistance prior to contacting those individuals.] In addition to these guidelines for ethical behavior, here are some personal characteristics of an Armor-Bearer: Submitted to all God-ordained authorities; Trustworthy and dependable trust is earned and can be very hard to get back once it s broken; Optimistic Disciplined in prayer; A person of faith; A student of the Word; A person of the Spirit; and Humble --- sure of their calling and election (II Peter 1: 10, 11) Well that s a thumb nail sketch of the ministry of an Armor-Bearer. Hopefully it gives you the idea of how Associate Pastor s are to work alongside a Lead Pastor. One last thought before we move on to The Lead Pastor s Responsibility to an Associate Pastor next month good Staff Relationships require good communication. Always keep the Lead Pastor informed of what is going on in your ministry. I always told my staff, Don t let me be blind-sided; make sure I know what s going on before someone calls me with a concern. Of course, communication is always a two-way street, but I would encourage every Associate Pastor to be an initiator of good communication with their Lead Pastor. The Lead Pastor s Responsibility to an Associate Pastor. As we ve already talked about the Lead Pastor carries a great amount of responsibility for the local church. A Lead Pastor s responsibilities to a Staff Pastor are more involved than for most other parishioners in the congregation. Clearly, the Lead Pastor is a supervisor (boss) of the Staff Pastor. He must fulfill all the responsibilities of a supervisor. Here are some practical aspects of that: Clear Expectations...Every Staff Pastor should have a clear understanding of what his ministry responsibilities are and what the Lead Pastor expects of them. It is incumbent on the Lead Pastor to communicate this clearly to all staff members. I find that the easiest way is to put it in writing in the form of a job description. I ve heard that the use of common words is the best way to sow confusion, because the same common word often means significantly different things to different people. EG: Make sure the church is ready for Sunday Morning Service --- ready might mean the doors are unlocked, the lights are on and the temperature is comfortable to one person and it might mean the doors are unlocked, the lights are on, the

7 Church Administration Matters Page 7 of 9 temperature is comfortable, coat racks have been straightened, the entire church has been inspected and any tidying up has been done, there s fresh water on the pulpit for the speaker, the bulletins are laid out for the ushers, etc. If you have very specific expectations, provide very specific instructions. The less experienced the staff member the more detailed that may need to be. Although I ve discovered the need for more details is often more a function of the staff member s giftings, motivations and attitudes than age or experience. You can t hold someone accountable for a job they didn t know was theirs! Training / Equipping Matched with Assignment...I realize it may be an ideal world where a staff member is perfectly matched with his assignments and training / equipping. Having acknowledged that, it is important that the Lead Pastor do the very best they can to match responsibilities with the training / equipping of his staff members. If a staff member is assigned a responsibility for which they have not been trained or equipped, it is the responsibility of the Lead Pastor to provide that training or equipping. It is very helpful if the staff member is honest with the Lead Pastor as it relates to their abilities and training. [EG: I once had a staff member who received a Needs to Improve for an area on their annual evaluation. The staff member said they would be willing to handle that responsibility, but they didn t know how to do that task. The simple answer was a one day training session that the staff member attended at the church s expense. And that resolved the matter! It is the church s responsibility, through the office of the Lead Pastor, to do their best to ensure that a staff member is adequately trained or equipped to perform a specific area of responsibility. [NOTE: It is reasonable for a Lead Pastor to presume that a credentialed minister has a certain minimum level of training / equipping in the area of general ministry. This concept applies to more specialized areas of ministry / responsibility. EG: It s reasonable to expect a minister would know how to lead a congregation in communion. It s not reasonable to expect a minister to be able to maintain a boiler heating system.] Regular Performance Evaluations...once a staff member has a clear understanding of their responsibilities and is properly trained and equipped, it is important to provide them feedback on their performance. I find the easiest way to do this is by using evaluations. There are a couple of ways to provide a staff member with a performance evaluation: (1) Oral evaluations this informal approach can be effective as along as the communication lines are clear and candid. Sometimes ministers have a way of mincing their words so we can have a win win situation. I find that goal often times obscures direct communication. We should be glowing in our commendations and we should be direct in those things that need to be changed or improved. Mincing words can reduce the impact of either side of that and can result in a lack of understanding on the staff member s part. If you use an oral (informal) method of evaluating staff members, I recommend you put in writing any areas that need to be changed or improved in order to avoid

8 Church Administration Matters Page 8 of 9 miscommunication. Until you ve informed a person of the need to change or improve, you really can t hold them accountable for those areas. (2) Written evaluations due to the potential for miscommunication with oral evaluations, my preference is written evaluations. Commendations for good or great work can be clearly communicated through a written evaluation. Vice versa areas that need to be changed or improved are easily identified when done in writing. The best evaluation also includes specific steps that are needed for the change or improvement to take place. It is also good to identify when those areas will be reevaluated (i.e. 60 days, 6 months, etc.) You can t hold someone accountable for a job they didn t know they weren t doing! With all this talk about being the staff member s supervisor, it is critical that the Lead Pastor not lose sight that they are also the staff member s pastor. If all a Lead Pastor and staff member ever talk about or focus on is work (even if it s ministry), then they are missing the tremendous aspects of being co-laborers together and being part of the family of God. To use a Biblical picture, Lead Pastors are shepherds to their staff members and need to tend to them the same way they tend to the rest of the flock. While a staff member should serve as an Armor-Bearer to the Lead Pastor, the Lead Pastor should be the biggest supporter, encourager and advocate for every staff member. Some practical ways of effectively leading a staff member can be found in Guidelines of Ministerial Ethics for Pastors... Preamble As a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, called by God to proclaim the gospel and gifted by the Holy Spirit to minister in the Church of Jesus Christ, I dedicate myself to conduct my ministry according to the ethical guidelines and principles set forth in Scripture and in this Code of Ministerial Ethics, in order that my ministry may be acceptable to God, my service beneficial to the Christian community, and my life a witness to the world. Responsibilities of a Lead Pastor to Staff Pastors God has called the Lead Pastor of a church to lead the church according to the vision that God has given him. To fulfill Biblical standards and to provide the church with a Biblical model of how to support a staff pastor I will be supportive of and loyal to each staff member, particularly in public settings. I will handle any issues that need to be dealt with privately or with the fewest individuals possible. 2. I will always speak well of each staff member, never criticizing them, second-guessing their decisions or undermining their ministry in any way, whether in public settings or private conversations. 3. I will intentionally work at cultivating and maintaining an atmosphere of team spirit. 4. I will encourage the Board to provide salary increases at appropriate times and in appropriate amounts for all staff members. 5. I will actively look for opportunities to bless each staff member in a personal way.

9 Church Administration Matters Page 9 of 9 6. I will maintain good relationships with other ministers of my area of ministry. 7. If single, I will be discreet in my dating practices, especially in relation to members of my congregation. 8. Should it become necessary for a staff member to leave the church, I will assist them do so in as positive a manner as possible. Candidly, a lot of this is just common sense, but I have observed that all too often this type of common sense can be lost in the throes of pressurized ministry responsibilities. I ve often heard it said, Let s keep the main thing, the main thing! And I fully endorse that. In the area of staff relations, personal relationship is the main thing and ministry productivity is secondary. It s a bit like the idea that if you lose your family to the ministry, you don t really have a ministry at all. Let s all model appropriate relationships within our ministry staff, so we can say to the Church and the world This is how it s done!