In response to an earlier post, What I Tell My Board Each Year, I have received a comment suggesting I write a mirror article – “What my board can expect from me!” I appreciate the comment and suggestion. Here’s the result.
After 45 years of ministry, many as a district and national church leader, I have observed a major shift in the relationships between church boards and senior pastors.
Thirty years ago, when I was called to mediate a pastor-board dispute, it was usually easy to support the pastor. It was generally accepted that pastor-board difficulties arose primarily when church boards handcuffed pastors by their controlling attitudes and their desire to do the work of the pastor.
That is no longer the situation. Many denominational leaders report that church conflicts are now more likely to be triggered by the insensitivity and incompetence of pastors.
Church boards have a right to expect that their spiritual shepherd will be a certain kind of person. They should be able to expect their pastor to live with a biblical code of ethics and Christ-like personality. They expect leadership competency and biblical convictions.
Here are nine things a board should be able to expect from their pastor.
1. Intimacy with God
First and foremost, a board expects their pastor to be a man of God. He needs to know God’s presence, God’s voice and God’s will. He needs to be comfortable and natural with God’s presence, yet never flippant or casual with the things of God.
The pastor needs to “climb the mountain” to determine God’s specific purposes for a congregation. He sermons must be birthed in a prayer chamber, not on a computer.
A pastor’s intimacy with God will be an intangible but vibrant endorsement of his words and actions as he ministers among his people.
2. Biblical literacy
Boards expect biblical literacy from their pastor. They want him to know and understand the Scriptures. They want their pastor to know how to interpret (rightly divide) the meaning of the Scripture properly. They want to see evidence of the Scripture being applied to their pastor’s personal life as well as his ministry.
Paul instructed Timothy, “Preach the Word!” It is the Word that gives authority to a message. It is the Word that has life-changing power. It is God’s Word that is eternal and never-changing in a world marked by conflicting ideas and values. While there are those who have itching ears and want the latest fads, boards expect their pastors to be people of the Word.
3. Authenticity
The day of pastors living behind a façade of pretense is over. The board needs to be confident that what they see in public is what the pastor is in private. There will be no masks, no secret life and no skeletons in the closet. My “yes” will be “yes” and my “no” will be “no.” There will be neither duplicity nor deception.
A pastor cannot parade before his people pretending to be what he is not. He cannot hide behind a position or a title. He won’t talk with a special vocabulary or tone of voice. He will be real, transparent with his people.
4. Christ-likeness
Boards expect their pastors to be Christ’s representative, Christ’s presence among them. They want the pastor to be more than God’s spokesman; they want a demonstration of Christ’s character and personality.
When there is Christ-likeness, there is no favoritism. There is fairness, kindness, humility, compassion and sensitivity. Christ-like people are committed to truthfulness; uncompromising as to Scripture, gracious in dealing with all people and compassionate to the needy. There is love, not only in words but with body language. Christ-like people really live by the WWJD maxim – “What Would Jesus Do” in this situation?
5. Predictability
I’ve discovered that board members don’t like surprises. They like predictability in the process of leading the church. Routine and structure are not all wrong. However, the day of dum-dum leadership and flying by the seat of your pants are over.
Deacons and elders want a pastor who is organized and knowledgeable, capable of managing the affairs of the church.
With the construction of large facilities, the handling of significant amounts of money and the implications of working in a litigious society, boards expect pastors to have an awareness and aptitude for business procedures
They expect to see evidence of planning and leadership. They want a pastor who is prepared for meetings, whether it is the Sunday morning service, the annual congregational meeting or the regular board meeting.
They expect consistency from their pastor. They don’t want him changing directions every few months to fit in with every new fad.
Boards expect a pastor to keep his word . The dislike when he keeps changing his mind. One deacon had an interesting take on this. A pastor had agreed to come to his church to preach for the call to pastor the church. Everything proceeded normally and the preparations were made for the scheduled Sunday, but the day before he was to preach, the pastor called and withdrew his name. The pastor felt “It wasn’t God’s will” and decided not to candidate. The board’s reaction was, “It’s a good thing he didn’t come because he is a man who doesn’t keep his word!”
6. Vision
At every board interview I have gone through, someone has said, “We want a pastor who will lead us!” I learned long ago what this did not mean and what it does mean. Generally the board is saying, “Lead us where we want to go.” They are not saying, “Show us the way God wants us to go in the days ahead.”
But boards do want the pastor to have a sense of vision. They want him to be a leader who knows where God is taking the church. They don’t want someone who is satisfied with the status quo. The day of the church merely protecting the traditions and preferences of the past is gone.
While some board members want the pastor to reinvent the past, most deacons just want respect for the history of the church. They want the pastor to direct the congregation to experience what God wants for the days ahead. They want the pastor to lift them to a higher level. They know that goal-setting in the church is rooted in discovering the will of God.
7. A caring heart
Board members want to know that their pastor loves them. They want to sense compassion and see a genuine sensitivity to those in need. They want the assurance that everyone is included in a caring circle.
The pastor cannot come across as the CEO of a business, but rather as a shepherd who cares for his sheep. This is relatively easy to accomplish in a smaller congregation where there is more personal interaction with the members. However, it can be more difficult in a larger congregation. The way to come across with a caring attitude in a larger congregation is to tell from the pulpit, current experiences of visiting people in the hospital or in their homes. I call this “Pastoring from the pulpit.”
8. Teachable
Deacons want to work with someone who is a listener and a learner.
One businessman was called to what he was told would be an important board meeting. When he arrived, the pastor told him that God had spoken to him and that he had made certain decisions which he would be instituting. The deacon’s response was classic. He said, “This man doesn’t need me! He doesn’t want to hear what I think or what God is speaking into my life. He is never willing to listen and learn from anyone!”
Deacons want their pastors to be knowledgeable but not know-it-alls. Deacons need to know they have a right to speak and be heard.
9. Finality
When he resigns, the board wants the pastor to leave the church. They don’t want the ex-pastor interfering in the ongoing affairs of the church.
Leaving a church is usually a traumatic experience for the pastor, the board and the entire congregation. Somehow there must be a distinction between personal friendships and the pastor-people relationship.
As long as someone is the pastor, he has a voice and the responsibility to influence the direction of the church. However, when he resigns, that responsibility is finished. To continue to comment on the affairs of the church after that is unwarranted interference and undermines the new pastor’s leadership.
A pastor must say, “This is not my church. It is Christ’s church. The church is more important than me! My rights are secondary to the health of the church. When I leave, I will take my hands off the congregation. There will be no ongoing meddling in the affairs of the church and no undermining the next pastor. The health and mission of the church is more important than my personal convenience.”
A complete directory of articles can be found at http://calsinsights.com/
You can receive this material regularly by email – just fill in your email address at the bottom right side of the home page under subscription options and you will receive a copy of each new article as it is posted.
To forward the material to someone else, press the “share this” button and fill in an email address.
I appreciate all your comments and suggestions.