#1: At first, I thought Batterson may be wrong. We can’t enter the pastorate thinking that everyone will like us, including our staff. Nevertheless, Batterson reminds us that we must choose co-laborers strategically—those with character and authenticity.
#2: We often can lose our own God given uniqueness when studying leadership theories. When studying kenosis we think, “Oh, I need to be more of a suffering servant.” Or with the charismatic leader we think, “I need more charisma. That will make me a better leader.” These statements come from good intentions, but in them we begin to create our own idea of transformation, rather than understanding God’s role in transformation, especially in the realm of leadership. Batterson correctly emphasizes that we ought to “serve out of the overflow” of what God is doing in our lives. We cannot think that implementing a certain “leadership theory” is going to suddenly make us better leaders. Only proper positioning to the grace of God can do that.
Price makes some good comments about things a senior pastor would like to know before entering ministry. The staff does need to be on the same page working together in unity in order to move the congregation forward. An alignment in mission would be essential. In addition to character and integrity there needs to be a certain amount of chemistry to make a team work well together. Hopefully the staff-parish committee hires people based on their ability to fit into an existing atmosphere. Often a senior pastor needs to be surrounded by people that have strengths in different areas from their own.
ReplyDeleteOften senior pastor's can learn to see his or her strengths and weaknesses through another person's example. The goal is self-awareness of the areas that could use support from another staff member or being able to name the area in which the senior pastor falls short in a particular area allowing others to surround him or her. Although studying leadership styles may cause one to lose confidence in their abilities, but it may cause one to see blind spots in the way he or she does leadership. Each person can learn at least one thing from someone else.