But that’s not what leadership is about.
Gordon Ramsay Customer Rule #6: Leaders don’t create followers. They create more leaders. If a restaurant is to succeed, the leadership (be that the head chef, owner, front manager) must not micromanage the operation but empower other leaders to coordinate the kitchen and service and enhance the diner’s experience. One person cannot, and should not, do it all.
In a pastoral situation, defining the role of a leader as creating more leaders seems counterintuitive. I know when I was called to serve as the pastor of my current congregation, the mantra spoken to me by the selection committee was “grow the church”. I guess it begins with Jesus, who commissions his disciples to go to all the nations (not just the Judeans) and make new disciples. And this commission is peppered with wonderful images of yeast leavening the loaf, a mustard seed growing into a tree, and so on. In other words—the word spreads and so does the kingdom.
But what if our call as pastors isn’t about creating followers—of ourselves or even of Jesus? What if our role is to empower others to lead, to spread the word and the kingdom? What if, rather than winners of souls we are actually enablers of faithful living?
There are two problems with the idea that congregational leadership is about creating followers—one spiritual, one practical. Hear me out.
Spiritually, when we see the pastoral role as one that creates followers, we have inadvertently (or intentionally) created a clergy ‘class’ system. Back in the day, the clergy were indeed a class of people, seen holier, more powerful, and several steps closer to heaven than anyone else. The reformation of the church blew these ideas to smithereens when Martin Luther, taking his cue from Hebrews, taught that we are all ‘priests’ and equal in the sight of God. A bishop and a crack dealer are both loved and valued equally by Jesus—hard as it is to imagine. When we see our role as creating followers, we lose our place and give ourselves an injection of superiority. ‘Follow me, I’m the expert, I know the way, I can get the job done!’ And you know it’s true.
Practically, one or two people can’t do it all. Especially in ‘pastoral sized’ congregations (those that average about 50 – 150 worshippers each week) the tendency is to put the entire ministerial burden on the pastor. The pastor leads committees, approves actions, and disapproves others, and so on. The sign on the pastor’s desk might well read ‘the buck stops here.’ You bet it does. The result is burnout—not only of the overworked, stressed, and unappreciated pastor, but of the handful of people (about 20% the congregation) who tend to be the only volunteers for everything. Oh, you noticed that every committee, small group, and ministry seems to be populated with the same handful of people who, given enough time and frustration that they cannot do everything, burn to a crisp?
Pastors can be the worst at delegating. I know I am. As the full-time staff of a congregation, I have the time and energy to do so much of the work to the standards that they need to be done. But with a core of unpaid volunteers who are busy with their own lives and livelihoods, I have to be willing to give up (or change) those standards if I am to delegate. What to do?
Stop creating followers. I’m not talking about followers of Jesus. Of course we are called to lead others in the way of the kingdom. I’m talking about congregational leadership 2.0. Bury the pastoral, clerical, holier-than-thou ego and start empowering others to lead. Discern gifts in your people. Encourage more and more lay involvement. Challenge them beyond their comfort zones (and yours!). Shift the scale on the 80-20% rule and increase participation and engagement.
Share your leadership secrets with your people.
Shake up your volunteer corps.
Dissolve your group of worship assistants, and form a brigade of worship leaders. Shake up the council or vestry or board of directors and make them lead the church. There can never be ‘too many chefs’ in the kitchen if those chefs understand what leadership and service in the kingdom is really all about.
And if you are a micromanager, like me, trust that other people are gifted by the holy Spirit to do the job just as well (if not BETTER) than you can.
If a congregation is to succeed, the leadership (be that the pastor, the music director, the parish council, the sacred cow) must not micromanage the operation but empower other leaders to care for the community, share the good news, and follow the way of Jesus. One person did do it all…on a cross, two thousand years ago. We, on the other hand, cannot and should not. Leaders don’t create followers. They create more leaders.