One of the ways we can start thinking about leadership differently in the church of Christ is described as point man leadership. Now, I want to clarify that I am solely dealing with the larger corporate body when I speak of how point man leadership is supposed to work.
Here's the current paradigm (remember, there are always exceptions to every rule). The church hires a preacher and the preacher dictates which programs are implemented and gets a general say it in the vision of the church. The elders are often the main proponent behind the vision of the church, who is hired and fired, and how the finances of the church ultimately work. If you talk to most ministers they would say that change comes very slow in the church of Christ model, and I believe this is one reason why. Anytime a group consists of more than four or five people, coming to a consensus on anything can be a difficult task. Especially, when a matter of doctrine may be at hand. Instead of elders having to deal with program changes, finances, staff hiring and firing, and capital campaigns wouldn't it be much more efficient for the elders to focus solely on relationships and shepherding the church?
So, here's the new paradigm. The preacher is the point man for all leadership decisions. He hires and fires (as he would know the needs of the staff the best), ultimately has a say in where the finances go (specifically dealing with programs), decides whether or not they need a new building, and is responsible for most logistics issues the church deals with. Think about how much time this would free up for the elders of the congregation to work on shepherding the flock. Instead of elders having meetings about whether to spend their money on a new sign, the air conditioning, a new building, a new program, that decision would solely rest with the preacher. Hence, point man leadership. So, in the new paradigm, the elders would still be the leaders of the church shepherding the flock, but they would not have to deal with many of the logistics issues which pull them away from really leading.
What problems, if any, do you see with this?
I like the idea of shepherds being shepherds, rather than financial gurus. Their main concern should be the spiritual health of the church, but usually they get bogged down in administrative duties. HOWEVER, giving the preacher the responsibility of hiring and firing and staffing might put preachers in a precarious position. I know that the preacher at our congregation gets blamed for anything that goes "wrong" (which usually just means when someone has a personal problem, and usually isn't a spiritual issue). And if his case is at all typical, it probably means that there are a lot of preachers out there who turn into scape goats for all kinds of problems. I know that our preacher likes things to "come from the elders" whenever possible and he likes to turn over issues to the elders to make decisions as much as possible because people generally understand that they should submit to the elders' authority, but they often see the preacher as the whipping boy. In our congregation, our preacher is the "supervisor" over the office staff and the youth minister, and he's also on the adult education committee, so he has a lot to say in what is preached and taught in classes. But our building and grounds deacons are the supervisors of our custodial staff, and our elders have the ultimate hiring and firing power. In a larger congregation, I totally see how it would be really difficult to come to a consensus on anything (we only have 5 elders, so it's not too bad). Maybe there could be different kinds of elders in a large congregation? Prayer elders, visitation elders, administrative elders... Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for time you put into your comment. I definitely see the problems with it too. I haven't actually seen, first hand, this work so this is all just theory and hearsay for me right now. And I completey agree with you on the idea that, the preacher having an out and the congregation feeling more comfortable under the leadership of the elders is definitely more in line with the current paradigm in the church of Christ. I think for this to really take place, it would have to be a church plant or one that is seeking new direction all together. This would also change the role of our preachers. Instead of just being a preacher, he would become a leader. However, I think as much turnover we see in the church of Christ, in the pulpit, currently it would be difficult for this model to stand. Here is another takeaway from this (in regard to hiring and firing). Neither the preacher or the elders are really adept to hire or fire people they believe would fit best. In my experience as a minister, the elders are often a bit out of touch as to what really goes on from day to day in the office. From a purely logistics point of view, the preacher has a much better grasp on this and how they would fit in with the rest of the staff (as this is very important). Again, I don't
ReplyDeletehave all the answers but i do think our system is a bit broken and could use a good look under the hood. Thanks so much for mulling this over with me :)
Hi, Derek! It's been a while since I've had any communication with you, so I feel that it's a God thing that your post showed up on my FB newsfeed.
ReplyDeleteSince we have been without a preacher for 2 1/2 years ( new one will be here mid-Sept), we have had lots of time to think about alternatives to the "normal" C of C leadership.
I believe that God put forth the model of more than one elder/leader so that no one person begins to run things his way. He knows our nature too well and had tremendous foresight :) in laying out that plan.
I also find it interesting that He laid out a plan for what is most important-the caring, nurturing nature of shepherds, but didn't make a plan for leaders/decision makers, other than the model of elders. Are we putting too much emphasis on the role of elders as full of wisdom, business sense and common sense, when really they should just be loving, serving, caring men of God? Personally, I think so. Since God did not make a plan for the business side of a church other than being good stewards, I believe that it is well within the Scriptures to have an administrative board of some kind to run the business side of things so that the elders are free to shepherd.
So in short, I don't think that God intended to have pastor led churches, simply because He knows how greedy human nature is. He intended for a group of godly men to model for His church humility, servanthood, and caring. If everyone followed that model, how much better would our world be?
Would love to see you and Courtney! Hope all is going well for you!
That's my two cents.
Hey Brenda, it's good to hear from you. Thank you for the time and effort you put into writing your comment. Yes, I think it could be extremely dangerous if one hired the wrong preacher. It could get you into a lot of trouble. I really like the idea of a separate group of people being in charge of the finances and business aspect of the church. I think it did take a lot of burden off of the elders and the staff as well if done right. I guess where I'm coming from is I would love to see the elders place more faith and trust in the man whom they hired. Instead of it being a rigid hierarchy, I think it would be more beneficial for both parties as a partnership. For me, most of it comes down to logistics. The preacher is there 40 hours a week or more, thinking about certain issues all day. Granted this is in my limited experience and knowledge, but I hate to see the preacher put so much time and effort into making good decisions only to be turned down because one or two elders just aren't comfortable with a decision (I don't have a particular example in mind). Anyway, thanks so much for mulling this over with me. I'm excited for you guys about your new preacher.
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