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Is it Time to Leave?  Assessing Your Church’s Lay Leadership

Orginally published on Tuesday, October 12, 2004 at 10:56 AM
by Todd Rhoades

This week, we’re continuing our series on "Is it time to leave?", based on John Cionca’s book "Before You Move: A Guide to Making Transitions in Ministry". This week we’ll talk about the red lights and green lights associated with a focused look on your church’s trained lay leadership.  John writes, "A major part of the pastor’s job is "to prepare God’s people for works of service" (Ephesians 4:12). Unfortunately, many pastors find themselves so busy doing the ministry that they lack sufficient time to train others. The problem is exacerbated when a church tries to offer an unrealistic amount of programming… Since spiritual growth is a by-product of service, we dare not let only a few people reap the blessings of ministry to others. Lay leadership keeps the body healthy and growing."

How is the lay leadership in your church? Are there competent leaders who regularly step-up and take ownership of ministries and groups? Or do you find that you are doing everything yourself and have no support from your laity?

John continues, "While the pastor is not the only one responsible for leadership development, equipping the saints for service is the heart of his or her task. A minister who cannot motivate others to lead, who cannot accomplish ministry through others, should not transfer that inability to another congregation. It is far better to learn how to become more effective in one's present congregation or to transition completely out of professional service if that skill cannot be mastered."

When looking at the subject of lay leadership, a pastor should ask, "Can I leave without significantly impairing the oversight of this church?" Many times, a red light in this area will be a lack of key lay leadership to carry on the work. If there is significant lay leadership, then that may better give you a green light, and a freedom to leave and seek a new ministry position.

What are your thoughts?



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 TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 14 Comments:

  • Posted by

    Is it time to leave?  That’s a loaded question.  As Minister of Music, my position and skills are two different things.  My music ministry to some is often regarded as “the extra” in church while to some it’s the very reason they come to my church.  Well, the truth is: no music, no worship.  However, I feel it’s time to leave when the church is “governed” by a group of lay leaders who want complete control and remain close-minded about ways to grow. 

    Currently my church is awaiting a new Senior Pastor--starting 10-24-2004, after almost 3 years of Interimship.  Our three pastors and my choir director have all left during the last three years (at different times).  I have been left to holding up the congregation-I simply could not leave when the church was going through the pastoral losses.  I put my personal feelings aside and extended a sense of continuity to and constancy for my congregation.  However, when my visions and goals for church growth are ignored again and agian by this group of controlling lay leaders--none of them is a musician nor does any of them understand the theology and impact of music (performing arts) in worship.  They are more concerned about which brand of light bulbs to buy to save on utility bills! 

    After fifteen years of being the “wall-paper” and constantly trying to reach out to the comunity with music ministry without the support from the church administration and the recognition from the lay leaders, I believe it’s time for me to find a church that is pro-growth and understands the importance of music ministry in the congregation and community, especially to our younger generations (all others as well) in the community with MUSIC!  Blessings to all church musicians!  I truly believe in God’s Greatest Commision--spreading the Gospel to the four conners of the world--which in my case--through music ministry because music is a universal language and can cut through all cultural and ethnical barriers.  When it is well chosen, prepared, and “performed” during services, it touches and heals the soul deeply, along with God’s spoken words through the pastor.

    Dr. May Tuan Tucker

  • Posted by

    I am currently considering a change in ministry positions from my current church where I am a youth/associate pastor.  We currently do have a problem with equipping the saints for the work of the ministry and a lack of people willing to volunteer.  However I feel paralyzed in my ability to address the issue because the Senior Pastor is doing nothing about it and doesn’t seem concerned with it. 

    What would John have to say about this issue.  I believe that the culture and values of the church are established by the senior leadership and that there is very little I can do about this right now.  This is in fact one of the key reasons that I am looking for a new position is because I feel very unsupported in my ministry here.

    Do the suggestions and ideas in this book apply to all staff, or just to senior pastors?

    What suggestions are there for staff who are trying to consider whether or not to make a move?

  • Posted by

    Dr. Tucker,

    You frustration is indicative of what many staff pastors experience during a time of change and transition.

    Is your new Senior Pastor that the church has called a strong capable leader who can cast vision and move a stagnant church forward?  Does this individual understand the importance of worship as a vital ministry of the church?  If you can say yes to these questions then maybe you can give this individual a chance to provide the leadership that your church needs.

  • Posted by Bernie Dehler

    Sometimes a Pastor leaving a dead church is like a husband leaving a dead marriage-- why was it dead?  Will he also ‘kill’ the new congregation?

    ...Bernie

  • Posted by

    One comment struck me. Your comment of “no music-no worship” clearly leads me to believe you probably do need to move on, but good luck finding a church that will subscribe to that theology. If you remember the story of Matt Redman’s church, so much emphasis was put on music that the church forgot that worship is not about the music, but about our love for Christ and expressing that love. They did away with all music for a season and when they finally brought music back, Matt received that song, The Heart of Worship. All of creation can praise God, but only us, with hearts, can offer worship. Worship is a lifestyle of affection to Jesus, not exclusive to music. Maybe the lay ministry has more to offer in advice than you give them credit for.

  • Posted by David Jankowski

    In our school district, the calendar planners have managed to set aside one three or four day weekend every month. Apparently this is an open invitation for families to scramble somewhere. In addition, families with grown up children come and go while the weather is nice, which is pretty much mid-April through October. As a result, people are coming and going for more than half the year. IF we can get them to commit to something a quarter at a time, we are doing well. Yes, that’s what it’s come down to--we are asking people to commit to various tasks for a quarter. Still, they have their escape hatches with substitutes. How would John suggest we deal with this reality--in my area at least. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a pastor in the south or southwest!!!

  • Posted by

    A lot of our programs close down during the summer months because like in your situation that is when everyone wants to get away. 

    Sounds like you are trying to get creative with signing them up for a quarter at a time but that will only last for so long.  I think the key is vision.  If they understand that their volunteer work is more valuable than their vacation schedules then they will be more apt to volunteer long term. 

    Another idea would be to employ a team concept of ministry which would allow for flexibility of peoples schedules who want to be gone some weekends.  If you have a rotation or multiple people working together to serve in different areas then you can afford to have people gone because others are available and ready to pick up the slack.  Of course they would have to be willing to coordinate their vacation schedules to make it work.

    If you find some answers please share them with the rest of us.  This is a common problem and I surely don’t have it all figured out with my church.

  • Posted by

    David said: “I believe that the culture and values of the church are established by the senior leadership and that there is very little I can do about this right now.”

    Which is one of the major problems with what we call “church” today.  The senior pastor, a man influenced by the doctrine of other men instead of what scripture says about the Church, is only the symptom. 

    For most in “church,” the emphasis is upon treating the sympton (i.e., a new pastor) instead of treating the problem (i.e., misunderstanding the form and function of the Church), which takes much time and a willingness to risk personal positions of power.

    I would encourage you to leave and either create an environment that is better representative of the Church or find an environment where you can excel in becoming all that God has called you to become.

  • Posted by

    I can’t seem to find the book online to buy anywhere. Any help?

  • Posted by

    There was a link on the email I received about today’s blog.  If you received that email check for the link that refers to John’s book and it should take you to a site where you can buy it online.

  • Posted by

    Our church has just hired an interim pastor who had served as our vice pastor for a time and was asked to return. His leadership and compassion is just what we need to rebuild our congregation. He will continue with us until we are ready to call a full-time pastor as long as we hold up our side of the bargain in accepting responsibility for running the programs of our church.

    We were also lucky, or should I say “blessed”, to have the services of another interim to guide us through a time of understanding the conflict our church had gone through.

    Our new church council has really stepped up to the plate and instituted a new mission for our church, with the approval of the congregation, which will be in place in the next few months. They are also taking responsibility, along with the congregation, for heading up different outreach programs. They are very open to suggestions and input from others and keep all communication between them and the congregation open. We still have a long way to go, but feel the time we spent without a full time pastor has equipped us to carry on and realize everything cannot be done by one person, namely the pastor. We must all do our part or the church will fail to grow or even continue. Our new music director also contributes her talents to coordinate with the pastor new forms of worship that we are doing twice a month. I believe our lay leaders are doing a great job in supporting our church and interim pastor.

  • Posted by

    I think a test of success is if one can leave the laity in charge and the thing succeeds and even grows further.  My job is to see this happen, since really I am called to be an equipper. 

    Being an equipper and having that call and gift does not mean being the expert at doing...it means being the expert at replacing yourself and even eliminating yourself when the church can benefit most.  The irony is that the more I have been able to really do this the more employable by churches I have become.  The more I get in the way and keep ministry for myself, the more I am sunk.  Generally, this is true if you want to work in decent ministries. 

    The reason many churches do not grow is that equipping the saints is really not what the pastor or his associates are either good at or on task with.  Ministry through others has to become the joy and pride of a pastor.

    Being both a general pastoral practitioner or an associate pastor (like myself) really makes no difference in the application.  Having thousands or dozens really makes no difference.  My best lay leaders are people who even themselves are reproducing ministry through other people.

    When the day may come that I can’t or won’t do this I must be withdraw from leadership.

    Blessings!

  • Posted by

    I left my position as a youth minister 5 months ago. My mind set was always to equip believers to do ministry. I was very successful at this, but it was at a trmemdous personal cost to me and those who volunteered. Here is a conclusion that I have reached since I left paid ministry (21 years):
    Equipping the saints to do the work of ministry in today’s organized, structured, and program driven Church has to be almost completely inward focused in order to keep the organization, structure, and programs alive. In other words when equipping the believer for ministry is talked about in the Church it is mostly likley talked about in terms of performing the tasks to keep visions, goal, and stratagies of the programs afloat. Most of the time, the time committments are at a huge cost to those you love the most (your family and close friends) and often people find themselves trying to serve in areas that are not natural to them or they find themselves under apprecaited and burnt out. I believe every Christian because they are a new creation and have the mind of Christ should desire to serve. This is a natural desire of Christians. I also believe that the most natural way to serve (be a minister) is to our husdands, wives, children, parents, neighbors, and to take advantage of those oppotunties that God alllows us to encounter every day. I also believe that Church Leadership should be teaching believers how to minister in this more natural way. To many families suffer because they spend so much of their time fulfilling their duties (ministries) at the Church (building) that there is very little left of themselves to give to those God has naturally place around them. I can truly say that since I made the decision to leave my paid staff position, that I have been living in a more natural ministry enviorment. It has simply been amazing to me the ministry I have been able to be apart of.  Recently (in the last 3 weeks) my 23 year old son, who has been living a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol has come back to God. That is just one of the many many ministry opportunities that I have had a part in. In fact I feel like more of a minister now than I ever did when I was on staff. Please don’t read the wrong message from my thoughts. I believe in the local Church and I believe in equipping believers to be ministers but I believe there is a more nautral and effective way to do it than is presently being done in most Churches today.

  • Posted by

    The key is balance, of course.  What I hear Kenny saying rings true in my personal experience.  The balance comes in not in taking away the idea of sacrifice--even at cost to time with family--it is in not serving institutionalized programs that have out lived their purpose.  If the purpose and leadership is spiritually on target, then the sacrifice is worth it and appropriate.  When leaders attempt to save or maintain an organization, this will burn everyone out.

    In our culture, we see great achievement in sports, business and art as well as science.  One would argue that we in the church business settle for much less.  In fact, this is true.  Our commitments should even be higher to our cause.  I would sacrifice even more to reach people with the gospel, but not to simply have an impressive organized church! 

    This is the tension:  to be as humanly excellent as God has gifted and called us to be without losing our soul to our own efforts.  Unfortunately, it is more common to see people in ministry put the line too far to under-achieving then in pursuing excellence.  What volunteer wants to serve on a losing team anyway?

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