The Top Ten Most Powerful People in Your Church

Orginally published on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 9:30 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Steve Case shares "The Ten Most Powerful People in Your Church" in an article he wrote over at Youth Specialties.  See if any of this holds true in your church...

1. The Church Secretary
Easily the most powerful person in the building. Meetings can disappear. Set-ups can get lost. As in war, the one who controls the information controls the public opinion.

2. The Senior Pastor
The perception is more important than the reality. If there's a problem with anything in the church (other than the senior pastor) the senior pastor is where people go to complain. The SP is perceived (and often justly so) as the one who can do something about the problem.

3. The Custodian
(Knowledge is power.) People talk about church business and church politics in front of the custodian as if he or she was a piece of the furniture. The custodian is there when the place opens and when the place closes. The custodian gets to empty all of the wastebaskets. While there's no perception of power, the custodian usually knows more about what's going on than the rest of the staff combined.

4. The Associate Pastor
Second billing has its privileges. All the respect and only about half the responsibility. The AP gets the complaints about the senior pastor. Also the one most trusted by the Senior Pastor. The AP can be on both sides of the battle lines. Properly played, this position can yield great results while keeping your head inside the foxhole.

5. The Kitchen Lady
There's one woman in every church (and yes; unfortunately, it's almost always a woman) who has made it her mission to take care of the kitchen. The church is her second home—and we're all very particular about who we let in our homes. The Kitchen Lady has ultimate authority over a very small but very valuable piece of territory. Cross her, and your stuff in the refrigerator will mysteriously vanish.

6. Choir Master/Education Director
This one is a tie depending on the church. Education directors are given power by those who have kids but not by many others. Choirmasters are given power by those who attend worship but aren't involved elsewhere. Often a toss-up as to which has priority; but either way, they both have schedules that take priority over yours.

7. The Highest Giving Donor
We may pay lip service to the idea that "all giving is kept confidential," but you only need to read whose last name is on the majority of memorial plaques around the church. If that last name still exists in the congregation, this is the person you need to suck up to.

8. The Previous Youth Minister
No matter how bad the previous people in our jobs were, the longer they're gone the better they've become. If you have twenty kids at a meeting, the previous person had forty. As long as you're there, the person before you will still have more clout.

9. The Guy Who Got Lost and Stopped in to Ask Directions
People will fall all over themselves trying to display the love of Jesus for a lost soul and potential member. Meanwhile, try to get a volunteer to help unload the volleyball net from your car.

10. You
That whole "First shall be last and last shall be first" thing? When it came to the youth minister, I'm sure Jesus was kidding. In fact, since there was a tie in this list, technically you didn't even make the top ten.

Hmmm... can anybody relate?!  Is there someone you would add or delete from this list?  What's your experience?

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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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