After over three decades of focusing on smaller churches I am more convinced than ever that the one thing needed most in these churches is pastoral leadership. What I have witnessed is a lot of small church pastors who manage the churches they serve well, but they don't lead them, and they fail to develop their lay leaders. This results in a leadership vacuum in the church, and churches (like nature) abhors a vacuum, someone will rise up and claim that leadership role whether or not they have the spiritual maturity to do so.
A strong pastoral leader will have a vision of where God wants to take the church and will be very intentional in leading the church in that direction. A manager will do everything possible to avoid rocking the boat. He or she will work hard to keep everyone happy even if that means sacrificing the mission God has for them. Yes, good management is needed in churches just as it is in every organization, but leadership is also needed or else the church becomes stagnant and stuck until it eventually declines.
I am aware of how difficult it can be for a pastor to assume a leadership role in a smaller church. In many of these churches there are strong patriarchs and matriarchs who have lead that church for decades and sometimes for generations. Some of these individuals can be very reluctant to give up that leadership to the pastor or anyone else.
When I first went to the church I pastored some of the pastors in our association told me I would not last there six months. They even named the people who would run me off. As I got to know these people I soon learned they were not bad people or mean-spirited people. They were people who loved their church. They had attended that church for decades as their parents did before them. I also learned that they had to assume a leadership role in the church because over the years no one else did. The average pastoral tenure of that church when I went there was 12 months. That was the average! No pastor earns the right to lead a church after only one year. That meant they were not about to turn over their leadership to me until I earned it. It took seven years before they trusted me enough to allow me to lead. As far as being told I would not last there six months, I served that church for 20 years. The ones who gave me six months were long gone from their churches within 3-4 years of warning me to expect a short tenure.
Your title as pastor will not automatically make you a leader in the smaller church. You have to earn the right to lead by proving yourself to be trustworthy. In order to keep the right to lead you have to actually lead. You don't have to be right all the time, but you do have to lead all the time.
This means, among other things, you have to keep a fresh vision from God for the church and be able to share that vision to the congregation in a way that will result in buy-in. As you move towards that vision, you have to lead the way. You don't lead from the back of the pack. You keep the vision fresh in the minds of the people, and, prayerfully, lead them in the steps that will result in the vision being fulfilled. As small visions are achieved, God will give you larger ones, and the congregation will be willing to accept these larger visions.
In smaller churches that have been managed, not led, it's likely that little of significance has occurred in recent years. This may make the church reluctant to try new things. Smaller churches often struggle with self-esteem issues which can make them fearful of failing. But, as you lead them in small things, and they achieve them, it will cause them to be willing to attempt larger things. There is nothing like getting some wins under your belt to create the momentum necessary to achieve greater tasks.
I am convinced many smaller churches want a pastor to lead them, but the pastor must first earn the right to do so. Stay long enough to earn the trust of your congregation so they will let you lead, and then lead. You'll be amazed at what God will do.
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