So, if building bridges across the chasm that currently lies between most churches and their communities is the most pressing issue for parishes, what is the second most pressing issue: leadership.
I don’t mean the leadership of the Senior Minister. I mean the leadership of the members, or what what one author calls, the extent to which a church is Leaderful!!
I am completely convinced that a church cannot rise above the amount of leadership it raises up, and that the Senior Minister and other staff can only provide a limited amount of leadership.
What that means is that one of the central limiting factors in churches is the degree to which leaders in the congregation are inspired, mentored, equipped, deployed and developed, resourced and given the gift of accountability.
I suspect there are hardly any churches that do this effectively, outside of youth groups – at least, that’s what NCLS says is our greatest weakness. I’m currently reading Building Leaders, by Aubrey Malphurs, which sets out in minute (and sometimes painful detail) a step-by-step process for doing this, precisely because I’m as guilty as anyone in this!
So, is there anywhere that’s doing this thing well. It’s not preaching that’s the difference between small / medium sized churches and large churches, it’s leaderful-ness.
Andrew – could you outline more on how you would deal with this problem?
Andrew, enjoying your posts. I really like this idea and it sits very well with Jim Collins proposal about Level 5 leadership http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/level5/index.html. Perhaps I should visit a certain bookstore…:)
one of my favourite all-time leadership quotes is from Max de-Pree is this:
“leadership is abandoning yourself to the strength of others”
Like you Andrew, it remains more of an aspiration than embodied in my own leadership style… although I do think I have been near my best in 3 different parish contexts, in three different roles, when I have somehow managed to do this.
I suspect it is partly step-by-step (a la Malphurs) and partly a change-of-heart about what the calling of leadership is meant to look like.
Mike, that’s the $64,000 question!
Still working it out, but I know 1 key – i the Senior Minister and other staff have to spend a considerable amount of time 1-1 with people doing direct personal asking, and then follow up with clearly defined role expectations, goal set etc.
I was reading yesterday that the combination of high autonomy and high expectations is the way to go, and that makes intuitive sense to me.
Have you seen it work well? I’m particularly thinking of non youth/Uni aged people ie workers
Geoff, the change of heart issue is an interesting one. I can’t figure out how much of a deal it is for me personally. It’s so great seeing other people do excellent things for God.
To be honest, I think it’s more the fear of being turned down which stops people asking, or only making the general appeal / request for leaders.
The control issue is important, but is best expressed through the goal setting process, it seems to me.
Roger, when you’re at the bookshop, get copies for me!
Hey Andrew,
I love this vision.
Equipping & enabling the saints in the way you describe is something I feel particularly passionate about.
As the Director of Women’s Ministry & training, I have spent the last year inviting women into leadership & oversight roles, to minister alongside me in genuine leadership in the church. (egI have recruited into leadership a Co-ordinator of Women’s Evangelism Committee, Co-ordinator of Women’s growth Groups, Co-ordinators of Women Exploring the Bible Network etc)
They each have written role expectations, & I meet up with each of my key women leaders in a mentoring /training/support capacity.
This year I had enough women leaders of ministries to start a “Women’s Ministry Council”, of which I am the chair. The council is made up of all the key Women who have oversight of the various women’s ministries.
We meet twice a year to ‘ Support & Report”. (hence accountability structures).
This group is also made up of women ‘across congregations’. In this way the council has a clear understanding of what’s happening in each of the key Women’s ministries right across the church, and they are able to support each other in those tasks & responsibilities.
Each ministry leader has it as part of their role expectation to be raising up & engaging other women into the ministry task alongside them.
My role is to recruit & then “equip the saints” for ministry, & then support & enable them in the doing of it.
My stated aim to the women when I came -was to be”the girl of no gaps”, ie I wanted to so structure & enable the ministry, that when I leave, there will be no ‘gaps’ in the ministry to women that needed filling, ie the ministry didn’t rise or fall on my presence or absence.
Sarie, sounds fantastic. In fact, if you’re up for it, It’d be great to get you to come and speak to our staff team.
In light of the next post, are there also written, measurable goals for the different teams?
And have you seen something like this work in a smaller church context?
Hi Andrew,
I’m not aware of whether something like this has been done in a smaller parish. But I can’t see why it couldn’t.
I started doing ‘role descriptors’ & ‘role expectations’ (both of them, but also what they could expect of me) with our Senior Students, committee leaders, & chaplains to our women, at college. This was a much smaller setting than the one I am in now.
I think as you said in your post, it all begins with setting up structures that engage ‘every member ministry’, in all contexts of the church, and then personally approaching people to consider expanding their responsibilities as you see their abilities emerge. And then being willing to engage people in genuine ‘leader-partnership’ with you as they become able.
Where we become. ‘leaders of the leaders’.
Essential to this working is, as you have rightly outlined, setting out clear (and wherever possible-written) expectations, sufficient mentoring, genuine leadership scope & then appropriate accountability.
The accountability aspect will be horizontal ie. peer-peer amongst leaders, as well as upwards to the leader of leaders.
Re-goals, I tend to meet up with each ministry leader at the beginning of each term to set some with them. They then model that process as they set goals with their team.
I love the idea of ministers providing all the resources and dedicating the time to developing inspired, equipped and accountable leaders within the congregation.
We cannot forget though, that a number of the people stepping up to these lay ministries can have many more years experience in leadership in much tougher working environments.
It needs to be said that ministers have a lot to learn from some members of their own congregation, they should consult them on leadership skills, human resource questions, ministry strategy and pastoral care rather than sidelining their experience and bible based wisdom…
Dear Andrew,
You don’t know me but we have mutual friends. I was a youth leader under Justin Moffatt when he was the Youth Minister at Christchurch and I was next door neighbors with Kieth and Naomi Mcpherson at SMBC. Now we’re missionaries with OMF in Thailand.
Recently our team has been reading material by Frank Viola (Pagan Christianity; Reimagining Church) and he suggests that the problem lies in the profession of the clergy. When clergy exists, it negates any effective leadership from the congregation by its very presence.
He quotes Christian Smith “the actual effect of the clergy profession is to make the body of Christ lame. This happens not because the clergy intend it (they usually intend the opposite) but because the objective nature of the profession inevitably turns the laity into passive receivers … The existence of a full-time, professional minister makes it too easy for church members not to take responsibility for the on-going life of the church. And why should they? That’s the job of the pastor (so the thinking goes). But the result if that the laity remain in state of passive dependence. Imagine, however a church whose pastor resigned and that could not find a replacement.
Ideally, eventually, the members of that church would have to get of their pews, come together, and figure out who would teach, who would counsel … With a bit of insight, they would realize that the Bible calls the body as a whole to do these things together, prompting each to consider what gifts they have to contribute, what role they could play to build up the body.”
The model we are trying to work with here in Thailand with our team is to set up house churches for lack of better word. Groups of 8-12 people meeting as church in a home. In this sized group there is accountability and everyone is forced to serve and participate. So instead of big group of 50 meeting in a church with the minister doing most of the work, you have 5 groups of house churches. The minister/church planter going around to the groups, training them, keeping them on track, encouraging them. But he is not leading these “house churches” – that responsibility lies with an elder/s in each group. Perhaps these 5 house churches can meet up for one big meeting once a month for a celebration meeting.
Whereas in a parish model the minister is spending up to 50% of his time preparing a wonderful sermon which, if we are honest, goes in one ear and out the other for many people, in the house church model, he is spending more time encouraging and training the people to serve.
Also with 5 house churches instead of one bigger church, you have 5 different areas you are reaching into the community and not just one.
What I’m talking about is not just a glorified biblestudy, but actual church in a home. We don’t know if it will work yet. (We need our first believer first!). However, the traditional model has struggled in Thailand. Part of the reason is that part from in the major cities, churches can’t the rent on buildings and don’t have money to pay a full time minister.
I wonder whether reaching 10% of the diocese of Sydney is unrealistic because with the current parish model with Senior ministers at its head, it depends too much on the Senior minister who is invariably too overworked and tired to be pouring his energy into reaching their communities. I think the parish model worked in the past when the majority of people were going to church but I wonder whether it is still effective today when so few are regularly going to church. If you freed up the Senior minister into the role of more a church planter above, then the burden of responsibility falls much more on every Christian and reaching our communities is more realistic?
What do you think?
Richard
Mike, again, a great thought, and one I have also been thinking about. We have some very senior people at CCIW, and the issue is not how to train them, so much as how to release them.
That said, it seems to me that there is such a thing as ministry ‘nous’, that in particular has the knack of knowing how to work with volunteers, which has a different texture from the corporate world.
Hi Andrew,
It’s not exactly a small church situation, but I just spent a week out at St Paul’s Castle Hill and seen the kind of structures you’re talking about. Have you had much to do with John Gray?
Mike,
thanks for that – I had lunch with John once, which was really helpful, and a friend of mine now works there. I’ll look to follow him up.
Richard,
thanks for your comment – really interesting.
A few thoughts:
1. I think the NT is pretty clear that paying church leaders is the norm (1 Tim 5.17-18)
2. The gift of leadership is a real gift in the NT, and ought to be exercised (1 Cor 12.28, Rom 12.8)
3. The teaching role is crucial to the exercise of NT leadership (1 Tim 6.2)
4. ‘Passivity’ of the ‘laity’ is a huge issue – although I’m not sure I’d put it that way. And the solution doesn’t seem to me to depend on having no recognised leader. Rather, a leader who is really great at inspiring people to grow and serve and use their gifts.
But, I only know Sydney (and not much of that!), and I’m sure there are cultural issues in Thailand which you will be far better attuned to!
God bless.
Hi Andrew,
1. I agree with you but I would rather be paying church planters who are not attached to just one church (like the Apostle Paul). Under the current system the minister is being paid, he becomes the defacto leader even if there are better leaders in the church.
2. Agreed. But the NT the church has elders (plural) and one does not seem to be set above the rest in their ability to exercise leadership.
3. Agreed. But again why only one person teaching in a church.
4. Please don’t mishear me. I’m all for leaders. But I’m against the current model where the Rector has undue influence over the other “elders” in the church. What I’m for is a real sharing of the leadership amongst the elders of the church. I’m for elders (apart from the Rector) exercising their gifts and for the Rector to stop hogging the leadership : )
Rich