Yesterday's post looked at the importance of pastors providing strong leadership to their churches. I'm sure some of my readers, especially those serving in smaller churches, felt frustrated at their inability to provide such leadership. Perhaps they've tried and found out the church didn't want strong leadership from the pastor. This often happens in smaller churches. However, it doesn't mean the pastor will never be able to provide such leadership.
Many smaller churches have a revolving door of pastors. The average tenure, depending on what study you read, of many pastors is less than three years. That's the average; in some cases it's much shorter than that. When I became pastor at Hebron Baptist Church the average tenure for their pastors for many years was 12 months. Some pastors didn't stay much longer than 6 months.
This does at least two things to a church. First, they wonder what's wrong with them that a pastor will not stay. Secondly, they must protect themselves from the new ideas a pastor presents when they know he or she isn't going to be there long enough to fully implement them. The true leaders in these churches are the laypeople who are invested in the church, and they are not going to share that leadership with anyone until that person earns their trust and the right to lead.
It takes between 3-11 years for a pastor to be able to truly lead a church. The smaller the church and the more frequent the pastoral turnover has been, the longer it takes to earn the trust of a congregation to be able to lead them. For me, in that church, it took seven years before I was able to provide the leadership I wanted. Sometime in that seventh year the people gave me permission to lead them. I had earned their trust which gave me the privilege of leading that church.
How does a pastor earn the trust of a congregation? Two things are required: competence and character, and the most important of the two is character. Believe me, I wasn't that competent when I first went to that church! However, I did try to exhibit character in everything I did.
Character was demonstrated when I stayed longer than previous pastors. After a while no one doubted that I truly loved that church and wanted the best for it. I wasn't interested in climbing the ministerial ladder of success by looking for a bigger church. I wanted to serve that church because I loved the people there. Character is also demonstrated when you do what you say you are going to do. A third way character is demonstrated is by apologizing when you make mistakes, and I had many opportunities to do that during my time there.
Smaller churches are much more interested in your character than they are in your competence. However, it is important to grow in competence if you want to lead well. After going there as pastor I enrolled in a Bible college. I read everything I could get my hands on trying to learn how to be a better pastor. I met with other pastors and our regional ministers to learn how to handle various issues. I was committed to life-long learning to be the best pastor I could be.
Years later, while serving as a regional minister, I had a phone call from a young pastor who wanted me to help him find another church to serve. He had been at his church eleven months and was frustrated that the church wouldn't do anything he said. I asked him why he felt that they should given that he had been there such a short time. He believed that since he was the pastor he was automatically the leader. I explained it didn't work that way, and he would have to earn the right to lead. I also explained that it might take a few years before that happened. He was insistent that I help him find another church, and I finally had to tell him I would not do that until he had been at the church for a longer time. He did find another church, stayed there about a year or two, and then left the ministry.
Leadership is a privilege that must be earned. The way one earns the right to lead is by doing the things necessary to earn the trust of the congregation. The two most important things one can do is to be competent in what you are doing and be a person of character. Doing these two things consistently plus time will earn you the right to lead your church.
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