What should the leader do?

I must confess. I struggle when I see some churches of moderate size and growth with pastors who are doing everything for everyone. Sometimes, when someone is called into ministry (speaking from experience), we tend to think that Christ has uniquely called us to be everyone’s helper, teacher, prayer partner, and shepherd, all at the same time. Granted, in smaller churches or churches in the early stage of the life cycle, this is a necessary trait to have.

Unfortunately, as the church size and mission grows, it is hard for some of the pastors to grow out of that mind set. It is in this transitional time period that pastors are to transition more into the shepherd than a simple herdsman.

Jeremiah 3:15 is a great example of what a pastor should ultimately work toward. It does not say, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall administrate you, take care of the church finances, run from board meeting to board meeting, etc.” It has become an epidemic in some churches for pastors to run from one meeting to the next, schedule time to minister to those in the hospital, cut the grass, and by the way, schedule some time to work on the sermon series for this coming Sunday. Granted, there are pastors out there who put the message first, but I am not talking about them. I am talking about the pastors who are so busy with church life, they forget the main objective for this role is to feed the flock. I find it no coincidence that Jeremiah 3:15 states God will “shall feed” the flock and the answer Christ gives Peter after the reseurrection is the “feed my flock.” (John 21:15) So if the primary and daresay, most important role of the pastor is to feed, why then, does the feeding duty usually come at the end of list?

Thus, we must explore the option of establishing an Executive Pastor, or if you were to use business terms, a COO. What is the role of the Executive Pastor? Quite simply, the Executive Pastor is the day to day manager of the ministries for the church and anything else that is needed to be overseen to allow the Pastor to spend time in prayer, discernment and preparation for delivering the Word. Should the pastor be involved in the church activities? Of course, the pastor should know what is going on and weigh in on major decisions, participate in meetings, and handle ministry needs throughout the church. However, with having an Executive Pastor, this becomes something the pastor can choose to participate in. The pastor is then able to focus more on “feeding the flock” than simply administering it.

What say you?