Why pastoral leadership is important

There were many moments of crisis and personal learning, structural change and political compromise. I believe that this one function focuses all the other skills. Seminary training is meant to acquaint leaders with the kind and quality of communal life that marks a disciple of Jesus Christ. The role of the pastoral leader, however, is not just to be a disciple; it is to call parishioners to gospel discipleship. A communion of disciples is the core of parish life, but the notion of communion envisioned by the gospel is radically different from other types of associations.

Discipleship to Christ comes as a consequence of being gathered by God. By reason of baptism, our common identity in Christ is prior to anything we do. Consequently, believers are not called to build community, because they will inevitably do so in their own image.

They are called to discover the community they already are. The role of pastoral leadership is to help the community discover its actual communion in Christ. Parishes today suffer from what might be called mission drift -- forgetting their reason for being. They can be distracted from cultivating the kind of disciplined life that the gospel invites us to live.

Pastors can lose sight of this critical mission when they forget their own call to discipleship. Here are three leadership practices I have learned to help keep parish life focused on the one thing that matters:. Center on worship and preaching. Pastors expend a good deal of energy responding to individual needs rather than nurturing the kind of community envisioned by the gospel.

Sunday worship offers the surest opportunity for the congregation to be informed and formed by the pattern of Christ. Instead, we need to proclaim the gospel challenge to seek unity across our differences, to seek the common good and to embrace a way of being in relationship that can be described as no less than extraordinary. Reshape parish structures. Are we attentive to the patterns of community that lie below the surface in our parish structures?

For instance, are special interests or insurance concerns or business models driving parish initiatives? Are facilities used to reinforce exclusive, parochial patterns or to bring people together in new ways?

Is the prayer with which we begin our meetings mere decoration or the lens through which we focus all our parish efforts? Under no circumstances may he force anything on those around him; he is not placed in this task to control or dominate, but to serve. When Jesus entrusted his church to Peter, he did not give him any rights over the other disciples.

It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Any brother who is baptized and has taken membership vows can be suggested for the service of the Word by any other member, and if the church community agrees, he may be appointed.

If he is married, he does this service together with his wife, who shares and is essential to his particular obligation to care for souls. An appointment to the service of the Word is made on a trial basis. Each Bruderhof usually has several servants of the Word.

They work together as a pastoral team among themselves and with the other brothers and sisters who are responsible for the various spiritual and temporal aspects of the common life. The task of a servant of the Word is to care for all in the church community in body and soul and to witness to the gospel. He and his wife are called to bear the compassion of Christ toward each person, with the goal that each one can flourish with the fullness of life of the gospel.

They both must seek to be led by the Spirit in offering counsel and guidance in reverence for any soul who turns to them for advice or to find freedom from sin through confession.

A servant of the Word is charged to express that which is from God and which moves in the hearts of the members. A servant of the Word must be ready at all times to be sent out to proclaim the gospel, wherever the church community may send him.

Ultimately, carrying out the service of the Word simply involves a sharpening and intensification of the responsibilities laid on every member.

Just as a ship needs a helmsman, so the church community needs clear leadership. People in our congregation. The vision was shared with them, they had a chance to ask questions, and at the end of the day, another step toward unity was made. A few weeks ago, we had all our staff and elders together for a vision retreat.

In , we grew by 37 percent and we were all sensing that we needed to prayerfully develop a grander vision for the next five years. This felt like a tall task given that our church has only existed for six years.

Want to know why I think the day was successful? Because we argued. We pushed. We clawed. We fought. If someone had something to say, they said it. If someone felt like the Holy Spirit was giving a check in their heart, they shared. That day was exhausting. But we walked away with a vision that will bring glory to God if we take action on it.

Difficult conversations are the on-ramps to unified direction. Without them, the drift will be the norm. Think about it. Jesus restored Peter through a difficult conversation and told him what his mission was. Feed my sheep.