| Back Pastoral Leadership and Administration: Philosphy of Ministry Alvin Shaul L/A I, Kipp Philosophy of Ministry October 16, 2005 #1: My Theory of Leadership To be a leader, in the simplest of terms, is to contingent upon knowing how to lead. In order for someone to lead, he or she must have persons willing to follow him or her. In a recent debate in an Anthropology course here at Northwest Nazarene University, the difference between prestige and power was discussed. One of the primary differences decided upon was that persons with power can make decisions that will affect the people around them, whereas those with only prestige seem to only have an indirect influence on others. Leaders must have both prestige and power and at various times one may need to give way to the other. Leaders cannot abuse power, and when such abuse may be in question, the true leader should let their integrity and prestige work for them instead of demanding their way be enforced. However, there may be circumstances when one�s prestige and maybe even integrity is ignorantly called into question, and in that case a true leader must exercise their power in the situation. Variances of these may occur of course, but ultimately the decision should lie in the hands of the leader as to which direction he or she will travel. Now let us focus on pastor as leader. As has been drilled thoroughly throughout this course, relationship is an essential component in today�s ministry settings. The pastor must be in relation with their people. However, at no time should any relationship grow to compromise the pastor/layperson relationship. When pastors become more than pastors to their people, their people begin to think of them as friends, and not pastors. Pastors must relate to their people, but not become close friends with their people. The mark of true leaders will be those who can develop this type of relationship with their congregates. Great and compatible pastors must earn the respect and admiration of the majority of their people. They should not expect such at the beginning of a pastoral term, but should work toward earning such. If the people of a church fail to see their pastor as a leader, they will not follow. Pastors must lead a lifestyle that exemplifies and models their expectations for their people. Living a holy life is not always the easiest task to conquer, but it is a necessary one if pastors are to be true leaders. Whether they want to be viewed in the spotlight or not, they are the spotlight for their people. The pastor is the spotlight that shines on God. If the people see the spotlight on something other than God, they will lose admiration and respect for their pastor. Also, pastors must be persons of integrity. They should learn to shine on God unceasingly, regardless of what their people see or do not see. Integrity relies on that which is unseen eventually being seen. #2: Vocational Leadership in the Church�My Theory in Practice I have grown deeply from my reading of Kennon L. Callahan�s Effective Church Leadership: Building on the Twelve Keys. His ideas surrounding the pastor as missionary pastor have changed my understanding of the pastorate. Conversely, it was his revelation concerning the professional pastor that opened my eyes to the value of the missionary pastorate. The professional pastor is one who takes every precaution to learn everything there is to know about ministry, takes that information into the ministry and perfectly implements everything they have learned into a tight knit system. The benefits of professional ministry have not necessarily disappeared as of recent, but better more reasonable benefits appear for the missionary pastor. The professional ministry emphasizes training, education, and professional qualifications. The pastor took on the role of professional minister to regain the rightful place of clergy in society. I do not believe this should be lost simply because we are taking the focus off of professionalism. In fact, I do not believe that the professional approach to becoming a minister needs to change at all. It is in the deliverance of the Gospel that professionalism must die down. The professional minister is focused on making sure things are done the way he or she knows they should be done, for their own sake. However, the missionary pastor focused on the community of believers and the community outside but near the church. The missionary pastor is a community pastor, not just the pastor of the church itself. The professional minister was able to focus on those within the church, because the culture of the times �was marked by the presence of a persistent, pervasive, major feeling among the people that the church is important� (Callahan 8). Now let us go back to my theory of leadership. If pastors must be in relation to their people, and their people are both those inside and outside the church, then both types of relationships must exist. If the community of believers inside the church is not in relationship with their pastor, then the pastor will not be respected or admired. If pastors are in strong relationship with those inside the church, but fail to reach the communities around them, those outside the church may not feel welcomed into the church. Also, by focusing only on those inside the church, pastors can in no manner preach sermons on the great commission. Pastors must be a model in everything they do. Most people would agree that pastors who focus only on those outside the church, quite frankly, fail to be pastors any longer. Since we have defined the missionary pastor in the said terms, we must also conclude that pastors who fail to minister to those outside the church fail to be pastors any longer. The missionary pastor must be a communal pastor. #3: My Plan for Handling Conflict Resolution It is a rather frightening thought that the most recent conflict management survey I completed placed �forcing� at the top of both the calm and storm. This does make some rational sense when my Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator is taken into account. The MBTI rates me as an Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging. These all seem to work together to form what could be seen as a forceful manner of solving conflict. I am very introverted, so I have plenty of quite time to think and contemplate over things. I am very opinionated, and if something does not make complete logical and rational sense to me, one will have a difficult time changing my mind. With that said, I think it hope for me yet, because second in both categories was collaborating. I will not fight my opinion to death as long as a rational decision can be made eventually. Obviously, I do not like to lose, so the �I win, you win� concept of collaboration is very appealing to me. I am rarely out to prove someone else wrong, rather only to prove myself right. What will help me most in such situations will be learning to humble myself and admit that I am wrong. I find this difficult in marriage, so I am sure it will just as difficult in ministry. For me, I believe that teamwork and cooperation will be my biggest strengths in conflict management. �Avoiding� was a close third in both categories. I believe that this can and will be useful in my ministry. If I can have the strength and intuition to acknowledge when conflict resolution should not be occurring at present, many relationships and important issues will be preserved. Perhaps my weakest point, as I have said, is not being able to admit when I am wrong. This, coincidently, fits perfectly under �accommodating� in both categories. It was ranked last for me in both. It will be beneficial for me to learn how to accommodate so that I can let go of small insignificant issues. Placing too much demand on a weak issue could cause major troubles within the church. There are a few things that I need to recognize and keep mind as I head into ministry. First, conflict produces growth if handled correctly. Second, conflict will only become sinful when I react destructively. Third, I must learn to reconcile as Christ did, and lastly I must love my enemies, forgive them, and seek a justified peace with them. #4: My Plan for Handling Time Management: Perhaps one of the most important factors in developing a healthy ministry is time management. As a married minister, I see there to be four main areas that all need attention for time management to be successful. First is time with his or her family. My church will never come before my family. At the same time, my family will never come before God. Nonetheless, my family deserves to have time with me outside of my workplace. My children will need to know that I care and love them more than life itself. They need a father and my wife needs a husband. Second is time with the members of his congregation and community. As I stated above, relationship is key to developing the respect and admiration of the people. Third is time alone in study. The pastor�s job is to proclaim a message that the Holy Spirit can speak through. If the pastor is not allowed time to prepare the message adequately, the Spirit�s work might be hindered. This time should also be used for personal spiritual renewal. Remaining in the word for the sake of one�s spirituality can at times be difficult when one is reading the word for the sake of others the majority of the time. If pastors are not able to exemplify the kind of spiritual life they want their people to exemplify, they are no longer being pastors. Fourth is recreational time for one�s self. Most pastors are not so entrenched in the ministry that they have no desire to have fun. It is crucial that pastors make time for stress release and fulfilling fun activity. Part of the typical schedule for pastors includes one day off during the week to relax. Most pastors/churches choose to do this on Mondays, but more and more people are choosing the end of the week for their day off. At this point I think I will be taking Fridays off. By taking Friday off, I am giving myself essentially two days off, because Saturday is most commonly an optional work day for completing the nitty-gritty that is not quite ready for Sunday. This time will be a weekly time of renewal for me, allowing me to come to the pulpit with a cleansed heart and upbeat spirit. Prioritization must take place in the pastorate. I am well aware that many more things will come my way that I can handle on any given day. If I am at home, my family will be the first priority with exception for emergencies of course. Otherwise, calls to my home will be answered thoughtfully, but if a meeting is needed, it will be scheduled for later that week. While at the office, priorities will need to be made. Obviously in ministry emergencies and surprises are the name of the game. However, other than emergencies, not much should come in the way of the weekly schedule. I plan to have specific times set aside two or three times a week for sermon preparation at church. Counseling, home and hospital visits, visits with members of the surrounding community and other meetings need to be scheduled and kept on schedule. Straying from the schedule will only lead to mayhem, for me at least. #5: Analysis of Myself: My Own Strengths/Weaknesses for Leadership When I took the MBTI most recently I scored a perfect 28-0 on the introvert versus extrovert scale. As much as I know that I can have an extroverted personality, it does take a very conscious effort and is tiring for me. One of my largest weaknesses for leadership at this point is my inability to quickly form relationships with strangers. Beginning in second grade my teachers were asking my parents if there was something wrong with me because I was so quiet and never smiled. They knew I was a great student, but still wandered why I was not as vocal as some of the other students. I can feel like I am smiling, but when I look in the mirror, there is no smile. When I am in conversation with people they often think I am not listening or unresponsive to what they are saying because they see no emotion on my face. What is really happening at those times is that I am in deep thought about what they are speaking of. I am deciphering it and testing it against what I know to be true. This may not always be a great way of looking at things, but it seems to be the way my mind works at this time. I believe that through the development of more and more relationships my personality will become a little more present to those around me. Once people get to know me, they understand my mannerisms, but that will not good enough when I need to make good impressions with first time visitors to my church. If people cannot see God�s grace through me simply because my face and tone of voice do not show it, I am the one at fault. As I mentioned above, one of my other weaknesses is never wanting to give in. I am a very stubborn person and can be stubborn when the situation absolutely does not warrant it. This drives my wife crazy, and me too in most ways. I do not understand the purpose of my stubbornness, but at the same time I cannot seem to change it. No matter what, if I know I am right, then no one is going to make me believe I am wrong. I will at the same time, if the situation warrants it, prove, in my mind at least, that the other person is wrong. As I also mentioned earlier, if I can see the validity in someone else�s views, I will often time work toward collaboration. I also have an extremely difficult time admitting that I am wrong even after I realize that I really am wrong. If I admit it right away it is not a problem, but if I become stubborn, even for an instant, that difficulty will increase ten-fold. My best strength in ministry will undoubtedly be my versatility. I am a musician and love to lead music. I am a minister and love to get my thoughts heard (as long as I have had forty-three and a half hours to think over them). So though I may not be doing one or the other or even both full-time, I plan to always be ministering in both arenas in some manner. One of the reasons accepting my call to the ministry was so difficult was that I did not want to give up my music. God has shown me while here at NNU that he has blessed me with music for a reason, and all he wanted was for me to give that music back to him. I also consider myself to be a jack-of-all-trades. There are not many things that I will not try and expect to succeed at. I have always been told by various people that my dedication to too many things will get the best of me, but I have managed to stay on top of things thus far in life. Although I do not want to suffer from burnout in ministry, I do believe that God has blessed me with the ability to take on more than most people could comfortably handle. #6: Developmental Needs Assessment for Myself in the Light of #4 Though the first item that I spoke of in number four above was that of making time for my wife and family, making time for my wife has been one of the lessons I have already needed to learn. It has been difficult this past year prioritizing school, work and family. While my wife has consistently demanded family time, I have been overly dedicated to making sure my school work is finished and superior. I suppose the result of finally prioritizing my wife above my studies is why papers like this one will be handed in late. But frankly, my wife is more important than a paper. That is, I would rather get a bad grade on a paper than get a bad grade from my wife. I chose to take a full credit load, be married, and work twenty plus hours per week. In doing so, priorities must be set. I must continue to make sure I am setting my priorities as they should be. This will undoubtedly be a challenge for me in ministry. I tend to be a �good procrastinator�. Unfortunately, sometimes things collapse when I procrastinate on too many things. In the ministry I will need to make sure that my calendar is set to a regular schedule. Having this schedule set will help me to do the things I need to do when I am supposed to be doing them. If I am given �free time� to get things accomplished, then very little will get accomplished. I need a set period of time and deadline to work with. Procrastination will only hinder the Spirit on Sunday and that is not what ministry is all about. Ministry is the Spirit reaching into the hearts of others through one�s words, deeds, and love. |