Sunday, May 29, 2011
Personality Driven Churches
Brad Abare and Phil Cooke warn pastors that if any of the following are true of their ministry, they may be at risk for being a personality driven church:
1. Do not take significant vacations
2. People do not show up when they aren't preaching
3. The fear that things would fall apart if they left today.
4. Only one person controls access to the pastor.
Each one of these speaks to the different aspects of this pitfall. The first implies that the pastor cannot afford to take time off or else all the spinning plates will fall. What an immense amount of pressure for one person! This doesn't sound like an easy yoke or a light burden. The second points not just to personality, but the depth of involvement that people have in the church. They are consumer driven, and they are only interested in consuming what the "personality" has to offer. The third warning sign signifies, at the very least, the confidence that the pastor has in his or her staff and lay leaders. This lack of confidence surely plays out in a lack of empowerment and an overabundance of micromanagement. At the very most, the pastor truly has surrounded himself with "yes" men and women who could not lead if they were asked to lead. Finally, the last warning speaks to the pastor who has not only bought into the lie that only they can do it, but that because of this they deserve special treatment, rock star treatment.
What are other signs?
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i got this one
ReplyDeleteThis article sure speaks of some pitfalls of concentrating on the personality to make the leadership of a church. Being in the Methodist denomination we do not have much of a problem with this because the pastors are able to be moved each year if necessary. On the other hand, we need to have a little more stability than itinerancy allows as well. This helps us understand whether you are moving a lot or staying a long time, there always needs to be a plan in place to help transition to the next pastor whether that would be as the article said, 10-15 years or 2 years. The pastor can NEVER be the central and key person in the plan.
ReplyDeleteThe churches need to understand that they, not the pastor, need to create and maintain the core values of the church, they need to have the strategic plan, they need to lead when there is an emergency and the pastor cannot be there. The lay person is the most important person in the church. They are the hands, feet, arms and legs of the church, Christ is always the Head! The pastor should not make themselves irreplaceable because then that person is putting themselves in the place of God. I agree with this article!