Is being a Protestant single pastor like being a married Catholic priest? Is it an oxymoron?

I never would have thought so until the economic crisis hit, and I had to find a new pastoral position. For the first time in my career my future was in the hands of a search committee, rather than a personal connection.

I’m ordained, 37, single (never married), with experience pastoring in large churches. Given my credentials, I had zero anxiety initially. Then I started reading “job requirement” phrases like these in pastoral job applications:

-“We are looking for a married man”
-“Preferably married”
-“Is married (preferably with children)”

These churches explicitly were not looking to hire someone single--like Jesus or Paul. I then was surprised to discover that even though the majority of adult Americans are single (52 percent), that only 2 percent of senior pastors in my denomination are single! Something was clearly amiss.

Why were so many churches “requiring” a pastor to be married? Jesus wasn’t. Paul wasn’t. Almost all pastors were single until the time of the Reformation. Is it wise to “require” that our Evangelical pastors be married? Is it biblical?

People ask me all the time, “Who do you read?” In most cases they’re looking for book recommendations. (Some people, particularly Calvinistas, are trying to determine if I’m safe--are my ideas and my theology grounded in what they see as credible sources.) But my answer usually surprises them: “I read dead people.”

What do I mean? In my role with Leadership Journal I get dozens of books sent to me almost every week from publishers. They’re looking for some good press, an endorsement, or a review in our pages. And while there are some very good books being written these days (we feature the best every year with our Golden Canon awards), there is also a lot of chaff. I simply don’t have time to read everything.

So here’s what I’ve learned. If someone has been dead for a while and his book is still in print and widely read, then it’s probably worth reading. And, if we’re honest, there are precious few books written by Christian authors today that will still be read in 24 months, let alone 24 years. I want to use my reading time to immerse myself in powerfully formative material, and not just flash-in-the-pan trends. Does this mean I never read living authors? No, of course not. But if they’re not dead, I like them to be pretty close. I can usually trust that they’re not going to waste what time they have left on this earth writing sappy Hallmark card sentimental Evangelical fluff.

Will Mancini, church “clarity evangelist” and author of Church Unique, is committed to helping churches find their vision for ministry. His work gives him an interesting view of the ministry landscape. Below are his predictions about new and enduring trends we can expect in North American ministry in 2011 and beyond. This post originally appeared at Will’s blog. We’ve condensed it here with his permission.

1: Increasing diversity of opinion about what good vision and strategy look like

In 2010, Craig Groeschel posted on the Death of the 5 Year Plan, yet vision mavens like Jim Collins still talk about 20-year BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). To add to the confusion, the list of “how-to-do-church” books grows exponentially. We’ve gone from simple, deep, organic and total to sticky, viral, dangerous and hybrid. Are we getting clear yet?

2: Articulating the biggest picture will be the leader’s greatest asset

Every church leader is saturated with countless best practices, bombarded with more communication, and ministering to people struggling with increasingly complex lives. This gives us a hyper-need for clarity. Communicating Jesus-centered meaning in life has never had more competition. The best leaders won’t take the most basic assumptions for granted.

3: Social media will open new possibilities for more churches

Still confused about what "missional" means? In this video Alan Hirsch helps define the term and what it means for how we operate in the world.

One of my favorite guys and discussion partners in the world, David Fitch, wrote a post giving five reasons he believes the idea of "leadership" as it is currently used is unbiblical. I don't think it was Dave's intention to disown any concept of leadership in the church (regardless of how I may have treated him on Twitter :), but rather to argue against it's misuse. 

However, I've noticed in the last few years a real bandwagon of anti-leadership sentiment in some circles. I think it started as a push-back to the "CEO" model/mentality in some, and as such, I'm sympathetic. But from there, it has progressed to where we now have many arguing that any concept of leadership in the church should be avoided. 

I am in favor of flattening things as much as is possible, but the truth is there always has been leadership in the church and there always will be. There will always be the community and from that community certain men and women will serve by exercising the role of (depending on how you translate) presbyter, overseer, or elder. And inherent in the concept is a sense of both serving AND leading. 

We'll get to that in a second, but first let me respond to Fitch's points against using the term “leadership.”

1. The word "leader" is found and used in the New Testament. 
Fitch cops to the "notable exceptions" of Heb 13: 17, 24 (forgetting vs 7, though!)... but then says that other than that, leadership is about diakonia, or service/servants in the NT. I agree that a biblical model of leadership includes servanthood, but it goes beyond that. Far beyond. 

With a new church and a new documentary airing on TLC January 16 (Ted Haggard: Scandalous), Haggard is back in the media spotlight. In this clip from an interview with ABC News, Haggard shares his new thoughts about the evangelical church. Do you agree with his perspective?

If this video is not working correctly, you can view it here.

There’s been much ranting and raving on the inadequacies of leadership in the church, but I must admit I recoil whenever I hear people say “leadership is Biblical” for a lot of reasons. When I say “leadership” I am talking about the way the term has become adopted into the vernacular of evangelical conferences and books (most recently exhibited in this article). Last night at our “leadership meeting” (wink wink) I went off on a rant on this very topic (I have since had to repent – to me repentance is the best way of leading I know). I posted something on Facebook and a lot of brothers and sisters set me straight. So, after learning much on Facebook (it is good for something), I feel like I need to put out there why I think leadership in this mode is not Biblical, why we might need to find a new word when we are talking about what leaders do in a church, and why if we are ever going to truly “lead” a community into the Kingdom it requires a skill quite different than what many in the church have come to describe as “leadership.”

Here are five comments on why “leadership” is not Biblical.

1. THE WORD “LEADER” ITSELF IS GENERALLY AVOIDED IN THE NT Within the context of the church (with the notable exception of Hebrews 13:17, 24) we don’t find the word used.  Likewise, the NT writers generally avoid using secular or Old Testament (LXX) titles for authoritative office. The NT instead uses the term diakonia (servant, service) to label people in leadership far more times than any other term in the NT (for example, Rom 11:13;16:1;1 Cor 3:5; 2 Cor 3:6;6:4; 11:23; Eph3:7;6:21; Col 1:7,23; 4:7,12; 1Th 3:2; 1 Tim1:12; 2 Tim 4:5,11). The NT writers therefore used a word to describe leadership in the church which contrasted violently to the current secular notions of office.  Hans Kung outlines how the NT writers saw that any words which suggest a relationship of rulers and the ruled were unusable in the new community context (see his book, The Church pages 498-502). The NT on this reading appears to carefully avoid the models of authority available in surrounding society by defining leadership in the church differently and by using different words. All this suggests that using the word “leader” as has been defined by the business culture of North America is highly dubious for the church and, dare I say, “unbiblical.”

Urbanites...this is your leader. Here are the links you should be reading this week. Live long and proselytize. -Url, out.

Is the Constitution God-inspired?
Republicans took control of the House of Representatives yesterday, and their first official act was the public recitation of the Constitution. The ritual inspired some and disturbed others. "They are reading it like a sacred text," said New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler. "You are not supposed to worship your constitution. You are supposed to govern your government by it," he said.

As if reality TV wasn’t scary enough…
This spring the Discovery Channel is launching a new program in partnership with the Vatican called “The Exorcism Files.” It will uncover the Catholic Church’s investigations into demon possessions.

Study finds atheist are angry at God…really.
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that atheists and agnostics report more anger toward God in their lifetime than believers. How can they be angry at someone they don’t believe exists? Or is the anger why they refuse to believe he exists? Which came first…the toaster or the Eggo?

**UPDATE...This just in...Starbucks unveils a new logo to coincide with its 40th anniversary. Check it out. -Url**

Like many pastors I know, I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks.

For seven years now, as I have labored to plant, grow, and guide a church, Starbucks has been my office, my meeting space, my cafeteria, and my retreat. I’m there most work days, and I’m even there most days off to get some reading or writing time in away from the house.

Yeah—if Starbucks disappeared, I’d notice.

As with anything, though, familiarity breeds contempt. The thousands of hours I have spent in Starbucks locations all over the Portland Metro area have left me feeling at times that I’d rather be anywhere else. Please, Lord, not another day on hard wooden chairs, sipping burnt-tasting coffee, and wondering when the employees will notice the BEEP-BEEP-BEEP of the safe that sets my teeth on edge every 20 minutes as it tells them it’s time to make another deposit...

And yet, week after week, I return. Occasionally I try new places, but nothing has ever stuck. Despite a certain weariness with the place, the convenience of Starbucks, the free Wi-Fi, and the ease with which I can meet people there all conspire to draw me back week after week.

But something else draws me back there. At times Starbucks has been more than a coffee shop for me. Much more.

The latest issue of Catalyst Leadership has been released. This time we are focused on "The Drive." What fuels your ministry? What keeps you going? And what does a godly ambition really look like? As we being a new year, now is the time to assess yourself and your ministry to see if you are on the right track. I think the articles in this issue by Dave Harvey, Tony Dungy, JR Kerr, Skye Jethani, Jim Belcher, Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, and Donald Miller will help you take inventory as you get started.

Check it out at CatalystLeadershipDigital.com. The subscription is FREE, so pass it along to your friends in ministry.