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December 5, 2011
Does the Church Need More 'Chaplains' or 'Leaders'?
Important questions about what the pastor's role is supposed to be.
Our colleague at Christianity Today, Mark Galli, has written an article that has challenged prevailing assumptions about the role of pastors. He responds to the popular belief that healthy and effective pastors should be innovative leaders with dynamic personalities. In other words, pastors ought to resemble the qualities celebrated among secular leaders.
But Galli also responds to the negative connotations associated with "chaplain" pastors--those gifted in pastoral care, the shepherding of souls, and wired for peace and harmony. Some have even identified the presence of chaplain pastors as signs of an unhealthy church.
Galli disagrees.
Here's a brief excerpt from his article:
One wonders where we got our other ideas about the pastorate. For centuries, the pastorate was thought to be about "the cure of souls"—souls being understood not as the spiritual part of us, but as the fullness of our humanity. The pastor has traditionally been thought of as one who does ministry in the midst of a people who are sick and dying, and who administers in word and sacrament, in Scripture and in prayer, the healing balm of the Lord.So who told us that the pastor is primarily a leader/entrepreneur/change agent and anything but a curer of souls? And why do we believe them?
Check out the full article on the CT website. Then come back and tell us if you agree or disagree with Galli's perspective. Have we incorrectly elevated entrepreneurs in pastoral ministry? Have we diminished chaplain-pastors because they don't fit cultural/secular ideals of leadership? And does the church need more chaplains and fewer leaders?
Comments
Is the chaplain equipping the saints for the work of ministry? Or does ministry become primarily something the pastor/chaplain does? I'm not against the characteristics of the "chaplain" pastor that Galli lists (or quotes from elsewhere), b/c they are very fine characteristics.
But is there room in pastoral leadership for a "generous orthopraxy" in which chaplain and "pastorpreneur" alike might be valued for the gifts they have to share?
Posted By: guy m williams | December 5, 2011 12:09 PM
"So who told us that the pastor is primarily a leader/entrepreneur/change agent and anything but a curer of souls?"
A: Bill Hybels.
For better or worse, the Leadership Summit has had a gigantic influence on thousands of church's perception of what a pastor should look like.
Posted By: Rob | December 5, 2011 2:25 PM
Why does it have to be either/or?
The best ministry teams i've seen or had the privilege of serving with have both.
Posted By: nathan | December 5, 2011 4:35 PM
The greatest contribution this emerging generation of pastors and ministry leaders can provide is to liberate ministry from its success syndrome.
Posted By: Robert | December 5, 2011 5:33 PM
Who told us to go on world mission?
Answer: William Carey
Nobody today is likely to criticise such a spirtual hero as Carey. We should be thankful for those such as Bill Hybels who pioneered the way for missional leadership in our post-Christendom world. Having a role as a chaplain may have been appropriate in a previous era but what is needed now from pastors is missional leadership. Jesus told us about the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to look for the one - in the context where I work it is increasingly becoming more like leaving the one to look for the 99.
Leadership does include making sure the flock are cared for. But if a church has a leader (or leaders) who is not a leader but a chaplain then only that function of care will happen and nothing else...
Posted By: Tom | December 12, 2011 10:16 AM
My AFROTC leadership class taught me that there are mission focused leaders and people focused leaders. If you're too mission oriented, you underlings will hate their jobs possibly to the failure of the mission. If you're too people focused, then your underlings will be happy but not too concerned about finishing the mission. So, both extremes can fail and somewhere in the middle is best.
Now regarding the church, the mission is saving peoples souls for Christ, the mission IS people. Programs and activities and missions trips and being the CEO are all great if they are building fruitful disciples, not simply counting conversions.
If you love people, you may need to focus on being a better leader to reach more people with the love Christ has given you. If you're a good leader, you may need to focus on loving people more to better grow those God's gifted you to reach for Christ.
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