People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
The Equipping Pastor
by James W. Moss, Sr.
The equipping pastor—I hope that isn’t an oxymoron like military intelligence or the winning Cubs. Yet I’m afraid it may be. I graduated from seminary in 1965. There was no training to be an equipping pastor in my course of studies. I was taught to be the deliverer of service. The pastor as primary or only deliverer of service can adequately provide ministry for a maximum average attendance of 75. Come to think of it, when I graduated from seminary that was a size that could comfortably care for a full-time pastor. However, for a church to go on from there, either the pastor will have to work exceptionally hard and smart or involve others in the task.
Do you remember the Excedrin™ ads of another era? A mother is stressed with all the work and filled with a tension headache. She is trying to teach a child to do a chore. The child is slow to catch on. Finally, in exasperation, the mother shouts, “Get out of here, I would rather do it myself!” An exasperated pastor may say, “You need to do a task yourself if you want it done right.”
Mrs. Slaton had been raised on a farm. She knew how to do many of the farm tasks. I heard her relate how her husband was attempting to teach her to run the tractor. She explained how she played dumb until he got exasperated and sent her back to the house. She said, “I knew how to do that job. But I also knew that if I started doing that, I would never get off the tractor again.”
The laity are quite willing to allow the pastor to do it all. Frustrated clergy will complain how no one cares and how they have been trapped into doing everything.
First of all the pastor doesn’t have time to do all of the ministry tasks that need to be done. Second, laity need to be involved in meaningful ministry for their own personal fulfillment.
However, they need to be trained to function in a responsible fashion. We often assume that people who have attended church for a decade or more know how to function in various ministry tasks. That is a very bad assumption. In addition, laity are sometimes expected to do ministry tasks spontaneously and without accountability. That expectation is out of touch with the realities of life.
It is sometimes assumed that people serving on the church council should be doing ministry. Some people make good council people but aren’t especially gifted to follow through on ministry assignments. Others outside the official circles may be good at doing ministry but not so good in an elected position.
Equipping pastors must find the appropriate niche for their people. What are their gifts? What are they comfortable doing? Then they need to be trained to function in ministry and to function in the way you want them to.
Levels of training and learning
The following is a strategy involving three levels of training designed to impact behavior in a positive fashion and expand the ministry base of the church.
The first level of learning is through sermons and lessons. Horace Smithton loudly proclaims to a group of pastors, “I have been preaching and teaching about lay involvement in the life of the church for three years now. No one seems to get it.” Horace doesn’t understand that he is touching only the first level of learning. There needs to be more for the message to catch.
The second level of learning is through seminars and workshops. This is a more formal training session where an accomplished presenter shares insight for the proposed tasks. Gradually the understanding of the role grows.
The third and final level of learning is through coaching. This involves one-on-one encouragement and accountability to do assigned task. This is ultimately where the changes in behavior occur. Reinforced by sermons and lessons, encouraged by seminars and workshops, the volunteer is released to function within a formal coaching relationship.
The pastor takes his recruit on a visit with him. The recruit watches three to five times while the pastor takes the lead. Between visits they are discussing the strategies. Then the recruit takes the lead for three to five visits and the pastor observes and critiques the effort. The visitor is trained. The same can be done in hospital work. Basically, the coaching role is intense and for a limited time. The coach is to give instruction and hold the trainee accountable. Elton Trueblood wrote in the 1960’s in The Incendiary Fellowship that pastors are to be like coaches.
Equipping pastors multiply their time by training laity to function in meaningful ministry. “Meaningful ministry” is the key. Busy people will give time if they believe they can make a difference in the lives of people and in the life of the church.
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Also see:
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Equipping for Service - People Spots Vol 7, Issue 20 |
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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April 20, 2004. Volume 7, Issue 7. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.