5. Compounding this problem is an increasing uncertainty about church polity.
Some churches see the deacons as the leaders of the church while others see the pastor as the leader and the deacons as servants.
More and more churches are turning to a plurality of elders—one of whom is the pastor-teacher—who have the oversight of the congregation. Even in a plurality of elders, whoever serves as pastor-teacher has the de facto leadership, but how does he relate to the others?
6. The church expects the pastor’s family to be involved in his work.
I don’t know of any other private sector jobs that require so much family involvement.
The school board doesn’t demand that the high school principal’s wife help decorate the hallways or attend all basketball games, for instance.
But churches have expectations for the pastor’s wife and children that are rarely voiced in the interview with the pastor search committee even though that perception may indeed affect the pastor’s ability to lead.
Many leaders in the church have lost their effectiveness because the congregation became disenchanted with his family, whether their disappointments were real or imagined.
7. Another challenge of ministry that results from the expectations of the congregation is the belief that the pastor should be the initiative taker.
Church members don’t demand their doctor show up on the doorstep when they don’t feel well, but they expect the pastor to take the initiative to discover why they haven’t been around.
In fact, some folks will get mad about something in the church and quit attending, but later they have forgotten what upset them originally.
Their complaint then becomes that the preacher never came to see them when they quit coming.
