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How to Give Away Your Church
Orginally published on Monday, June 20, 2005 at 8:24 AM
by Todd Rhoades
Over the past week or so, I’ve seen a couple of different reports about the Harvest Point Conference held recently in Columbus, OH. Both had to do with a great message given by Bishop Timothy Clark, Pastor of the First Church of God in Columbus, OH. Here is some of what Bishop Clark had to say about the different stages of growth his church has experienced, and how he has had to continually "give away" his church (as told by Dan Reiland in his Pastor’s Coach Newsletter)…
I had to release the church from myself and give it back to God.
Breaking though the 100 barrier is the toughest of all barriers. Churches ranging from a handful of people to 70-80 people know how true this is. It is a place where resources and energy are never equal to the vision. The good news is that for the leaders that are able to tough it out, vision and good leadership will eventually prevail. When this happens, there is always the possibility that perspective can become distorted and your thinking might become faulty. Even though the church is still considered a small church, the success is so strong that it is easy to begin to believe that you actually pulled it off yourself.
This doesn?t mean that ego is out of control (it can be-- but that isn?t the assumption). Hard work and accomplishment deserve recognition. That?s a good thing. However, it?s still all too easy to become impressed with yourself. The variable to manage is the fine line between being grateful for your gifts and abilities and forgetting where they came from.
Moses (Exodus 18) was not a young leader, but a relatively new leader. You remember how he sat to judge all the issues from morning ?til night. He continued this until his father-in-law, Jethro, explained the folly of attempting to do it all himself. Jethro said that Moses would literally wear himself out if he continued in this manner. Moses needed to give the leadership away in
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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.
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Posted by Peter D
Monday, July 11, 2005 at 3:09 PM
Post Your Comments:Bishop, I have a small ministry that God has entrusted me with. I have called myself time after time giving it back to God and not letting it become an idol. I am a female and really believe God called me to start this ministry which is sound both financially and through the word. I met a gentlemen about the January of 2004 and felt an unction by God to release the ministry to him as Senior Pastor. I did that in my own way. I still dictate, I still do the outline for the morning service, He is a gentle servant and well capable of handling the ministry the way God has given it to him. The people love him and listen to him and know he is the one that God has sent to assist witht he ministry. I am so aggressive thinking that I am being a help to him. I feel God is dissappointed with my actions and the inability to let go. I am called to evangelize and am ready to go in my spirit, but the ministry is my baby. After years of pain and dissappointments trials test and failures something positive has manifested in my life and I feel like Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac. Knowing clearly God will take care of his own. Can you give me some sound advise.
Dr Kasey Plantation, Fl (954) 588-3531
I like the progression of the this “give it away” model. However, would a better approach not be to start at the third level and keep it there (or, at least, skipping level two). The ministry belongs to the whole people of God, not to the Pastor! We often “medicate” the congregation by hiring staff and further reinforce the model that the staff are the one who do ministry. If we change our staff hiring practices away from “what skills does the new staff person need in order to do the ministry we need to get done” approach to “what does our congregation need to be skilled in so that they may do the ministry that God has put on their hearts” then we will truly be more effective in ministry!
Quote:
“Have you noticed situations in your own church where you just needed to give up some control?”
“Some control?”
The mark of a true leader is that he/she is always giving up control, especially of that which is not his/hers, such as the Church of Jesus Christ.
I like David’s attitude when his son Absalom perpetrated a coup against him. David’s attitude was simply, “Well, if the Lord wants me to remain as king, He’ll see to it that I’m returned.” How refreshing to see someone who has been entrusted much rest in the One who placed him in that position.
Today, however, you see “pastors” firing or encouraging those on his staff to leave because they’re perceived as a threat to his control and position. Those men/women are not “leaders” and certainly not shepherds, but hirelings who see no problem in removing anyone who stands in the way of “their church.”
By the way, great words, Peter.
God bless you.
I have to chime in on this one. I think the issue is not control, but communication. I am a student pastor right now, and I am someone who enjoy laity leading or participating in worship. In spite of constant efforts of saying, “If anyone is interested, please let me know if you want to lead worship,” people did not seem interested. A few months went by. Suddenly a complaint was hurled at my supervisor saying they were not allowed to participate in worship. So the next staff meeting they got to participate.
I think you truly have to start with being in conversation with people. I came into serving God’s people in a particular denomination with the mindset that they are the body of Christ, and through their collective wisdom I can help impliment their mission if it is centered in God. What was hurled back at me was “We pay you (the pastor) to do this work, so why should we do your job?” At the same time, I did not have the support of my supervisor
I understand that there are “controlling” pastors out there, and they have anxiety when they lose control. However, I think there is a fine line between pastors who control, and pastors who are victims of ecclesiological abuse of power - people who are so wrapped up in their own political agenda which in turn projects issues of control and anxiety onto true visionary leaders and attempts to have these true visionary leaders removed from the Church.
I agree with a lot of what was said. We need to ask ourselves the question: Are we raising up leaders, or followers?? Anybody can raise up a follower, but developing leadership in ministry is a mixed bird. Some are natural leaders, while others have the talent, but just need the training. I believe one thing we can do ministers (I volunteer) is to let ministry happen. A woman in my church stepped up and said she wanted to have a specific prayer ministry. We paired her up with another with the same passion. It is so important to make sure we pair or group people together with the same passion. No one can do it alone, the Lone Ranger way of doing things is a recipe for failure. Another recipe for failure is what some churches call “FIND A NEED AND FILL IT”. I say this: if it’s not your passion, it’s not your ministry. Too many ministries within local churches are being led by people who have no passion for that particular ministry. Example: Head Usher’s passion is children’s ministry; Nursery Director’s passion is Music Ministry; the list goes on. Minister where you passion is. If there isn’t a ministry that fits your passion, pair up with someone and start one. If you’re in a church where you have to ask ‘permission’ to start a biblical ministry, you’re prolly in the wrong church.
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