I have served in several churches as a music director over the years.  I have found that where there was a generation gap between myself and the senior pastor, it just has not worked out.  In the churches that I have served where the pastor and I were closer in age, we meshed well.  I am back at a church where the senior pastor is 20 years older, he is intent on making me a traditionalist, and I am intent on making him more contemporary.  So far, I’m succeeding.  He has taken some of my advice, and I have taken some of his. His messages are more laid back, he comes out from behind the pulpit, he uses more relative illustrations, and the contemporary service is growing dramatically.  I have taken more time to work on hymns and doxologies and gloria patris, and we have also seen increased numbers in our traditional service.  Either way, we need to be relevant and consistent in our ministries.  Traditionalists need to realize the need for a more contemporary service, and those who are gung ho contemporary need to realize that the traditionalists are primarily those who have come before us, and we need not turn them away.  Ideally, we need to all worship together, generation to generation.

As a 30-something children’s pastor, I identified very closely with this article.  Last year, I left a church where I had no confidence that the 50-something senior pastor had the competence and vision to lead the church successfully (He referred to the church’s decline as “getting down to Gideon’s 300").  I’m now at a much younger church, enjoying the freedom of a healthier vision.  I don’t think I could have sat down with my previous pastor and had the frank conversation that this article suggests.

Kent,
You are right, the my way or the highway never works well.  I have seen a “traditional” church hire a “contemoprary’ music director, only ot tell him that he must be traditonal or take the highway.  I have seen contemporary music guys go to a traditional church and then treaten to leave if they don’t get their way in music.  The problem is that neither communicated well in the interview process about what exactly would be the role and position.  But isn’t this my way or the highway view held by all of us?  If I don’t get the things I want I will hop to another church is the way we as Christians have embraced.  It has been embraced by leadership as expressed in the post from last week about choosing who you will lose, and in focusing on who your target audience is.  If you don’t fit what we want we will abandon you.  We need to look at the church and it’s purpose and function in a different light.

I would a gree with many points in the article and have experience both sides.  In my first ministry - the Senior pastor wasn’t that old actually - but he was insecure - and retired on the job.  He didn’t want anyone rocking the boat.  Today I have a senior pastor who supports the new and values the old.  He sees the need for new ideas and methods to try to re-ignite faith and action.  At the same time he ensures we do not stray too far from theologically sound principle and practice.  Here we are beginning to break boxes and our senior pastor is in his 60s.  Age4 can have some to do with it - comfort zone has so much more!

Consumer base theology always bring strife. yes we carry that my way of highway attitude, and it is sin. Yup I meant to say sin, because it exludes and divides. The church I serve is not mine, I am sinply one in a long line that care forit and then pass it a long. I serve not consume.

Calcification of the mind and heart have infected too many senior pastors. At 51 I have to have the flexibilty to learn and grow. I have to know that what worked in 1995 won’t necessarily work in 2007. Can I have a conversation those who are younger than me, and there are sooooo many of them, and engage in the gvie and take learning?

Great discussion - we need to allow the Lord to use these situations to grow us and I’ talking on both sides of the fence - both older pastor and younger. bp mentioned “ I don’t think I could have had that frank conversation.” I take it from that it was never confronted - why? We run away from situations too quickly in the church. Healthy conflict confronted in a spirit of love changes mindsets and helps us to grow. I remember having one of those conflicts before I was a pastor with a much older pastor who said “no way it will be done my way.” I went to prayer and asked the Lord to either change me or change him. The Lord changed him. Many occasions though I have had to surrender, after all it’s Christ we serve. Let’s confront these situations “IN LOVE” and include much prayer for the other person and allow Christ to do the changing - not us.

I wonder if the reason more of these conversations are not happening is because there nor many places for them to occur? If they occur in the chruch where you have vocational safety issue in play candor may be sacrifcied and power is exercised. If not in the churhc then where? At denominational meetings, where not everyone attends, or if you do attend and say somthing that is “unacceptable” future vocational opportunities may disappear? So where?

It would be fun to have community forums where differing church back grounds can gather and converse, passionately, about such issues. Face to face in conversation. Not lectures, but dialogue. That would be alright.

I wonder if it is less to do with age than with passion.  Maybe so many years in the pulpit start to wear down some pastors, as in the example above, where they just don’t want to rock the boat anymore.  Or maybe they are still working from their vision from the church they had 15 years ago without any new revelation or methods. 

Then you have a young pastor come on board who wants waves as high as they can get if that’s what it takes to get the boat to where it needs to go, or at least where the new pastor percieves it should go.  Maybe there is balance.  Maybe there is a better way.  This ties in with wanting to give up in ministry sometimes.  The head pastor seems to have no true definition of vision and purpose for the church, and another department head is so excited and fired up, ready to go so the two working together may lead to a lot of miscommunication and frustration.  I speak in generalities, but it is the case where I am now.  The pastor has no true vision for the church except to preach to the people who come in on Sunday mornings.  Hearing him talk, he basically wants everyone to be nice to each other.  I can’t figure out beyond that what he really wants. 

God challenged me with Phillipians 2- In all humility, consider others better than yourself.  Paul challenges the church to be one in heart, mind, spirit and vision.  The only way to do that is to put others first, consider them to know more than I do and continue on.  God establishes our authorities, and the head pastor is most certainly an authority for an associate or department head pastor.  So as far as I can, I push my vision.  Youth building for my community?  Most certainly.  Drama team?  Check!  Mulit-media integrated into the service?  You better believe it!  Concert style worship?  Yup.  Community events and constant outreach?  Wouldn’t have a ministry without it.  It is hard to have a vision and a passion when the headship over me doesn’t share that same enthusiasm, but on the bright side, he isn’t hampering my style and usually gives me free reign!