I start this post by saying I am genuinely blessed with the group of Pastors at Biltmore that I get the opportunity to serve with. God has used their labor in significant ways as we have seen Him grow His church. I am grateful for many, many things in their lives and love doing what I can to help them be effective in their calling. The Senior Pastors I know who are blessed with a pastoral staff all want them to be happy and successful in their ministries. Today I want to address what a Pastor needs from his staff.
1. LOYALTY – I am not talking about blind loyalty where a staff member looks the other way if the Pastor is doing something clearly wrong. I am talking about supporting the Biblical vision he is leading the church in. A Pastor will always have his critics; when a staff member verbally agrees with them, a breach is formed that is hard to ever bridge. If there are issues with him (and vice versa), talk TO each other, not ABOUT each other (Matthew 18).
2. LEADERSHIP – If a church is growing numerically, the Pastor and staff have to keep growing in their leadership. There are different leadership skills needed when your church attendance is running 50, 500, or 5,000. One leadership philosophy that I feel is imperative as your church grows is modeled by Jesus and outlined in Ephesians 4:11-12, which says, “and He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” (italics mine) We place a big value on the leadership ability of a ministerial staff member to be able to “recruit, train, motivate, implement, and evaluate” people. Jesus did all of these with His disciples.
3. PASSION – A non-negotiable with me is passion for your calling. How can a minister recruit and motivate a layperson if he himself does not have a passion for his ministry? He can’t! I understand people show passion differently depending on their God-given make-up – but passion is evident. A lack of passion for ministry is often a sign of something else going on.
4. TEAMWORK – If there are multiple people on staff, help make other people successful. The Pastor needs to do all he can to create alignment (Simple Church book is a great resource for this). Don’t be a “silo.” The long-term reality is ‘if one loses, we all lose. If one wins, we all win.’
5. CHARACTER – Before you were called to be a minister, you were called to be a Christ follower. Make sure you are diligent to stay fresh in your walk with the Lord (1 Timothy 4:16). When your walk is strong, God gives you wisdom and self-control you otherwise would not have.
