What It Takes to Make It Work
As valuable as sharing the pulpit can be, it can also be a disaster if done poorly or naively. We’ve all heard horror stories of an idealistic copastorate gone bad or a trusted associate who turned into an Absalom at the gate. That’s probably why so many of my mentors recommended against it and why so few pastors try it.
But I’ve found it neither difficult nor dangerous as long as I pay careful attention to four key factors.
Mutual Respect and Trust
The first thing I look for in a person to share the pulpit with is someone I can respect and trust. The second thing I look for is someone who respects and trusts me.
The power and prestige of the pulpit is too great to give to someone I’m not sure about. Once they have that platform, it’s hard to take it back.
Before turning over the pulpit to Mike, I had known and watched him for four years. Like most of our staff, he was hired from within so his loyalty and integrity had been tested by time and through actual disagreements. I knew I was putting a Jonathan, not an Absalom, in the pulpit.
Bringing in an outsider is a lot trickier. No amount of interviewing and candidating can guarantee that two people will work well together once they’re actually on the job. Only time will tell. That’s why I’d wait at least one year before starting to share the pulpit with a newly hired staff member. I’d want to confirm that the person I thought I’d hired was the person I actually got.
Make no mistake; sharing the pulpit can be tough on a shaky relationship. That’s because people tend to choose sides—even when there isn’t a contest. Both Mike and I have found that when some people compliment us, they suggest subtly a criticism of the other person: “Mike, your sermons are meaty,” or “Larry, your sermons are practical.” It’s not that they are trying to be malicious or drive a wedge between us; it’s just their way of saying, “I like you best.”
That’s no big deal as long as we understand what’s happening and share a genuine respect and love for each other. But if either of us lacks that respect and if we begin seeing ourselves as competitors instead of coworkers, those kinds of comments would widen the rift, serving as encouragement and confirmation of the ugly things we were already thinking.
Of such stuff coups and church splits are made. And that’s why I’ll always wait until I’m certain of the relationship before sharing the pulpit with anybody.
Good Preaching
The second thing I look for is someone who’ll do a good job in the pulpit. I realize that something as subjective as “good preaching” is hard to define. But for our purposes, let’s define a good preacher as someone the congregation thinks is worth listening to.
I know of one church where the senior pastor tried to share his pulpit with a warm-hearted and greatly loved associate. Unfortunately, he was also a pedestrian communicator. Attendance dived.
The best candidates for pulpit time aren’t always the next in line on the staff hierarchy. They might not even be on the staff. I know of one church where a part-time youth pastor was the one tapped to share the pulpit. I know of another where a lay preacher was clearly the best person for the job. (Obviously, in a solo pastorate, it would have to be a layperson, perhaps a gifted Sunday school teacher or someone serving in a parachurch ministry.)
The key is to find someone the members feel good about and who can help them grow. If you do that, people won’t care where that person fits into the staff hierarchy.
In a smaller church, it’s possible to get by with some on-the-job training. When I first brought Mike aboard, he had never preached a sermon in his life. But I knew from his success as a Bible teacher at a Christian school and various home Bible studies that he had the gift. All he lacked was experience.
