Why Pastors and Elders Struggle
It’s not uncommon to hear that Lead Pastors struggle with their Elder Board or whoever lay leadership team they are accountable to. In fact, it would be uncommon to hear there are no struggles at all! Why?
The root issue with any “lay” leadership structure is going to be rooted in a lack of ministry “experience”. Think about the challenge for a moment… If you have a group of lay people (i.e. Elders) who consider themselves equally responsible for church oversight and yet have never worked at a church nor have had any professional ministry experience, how can they effectively lead? That is a huge disadvantage!
This challenge can create 2 types of struggles:
1. Elders feel a sense of responsibility to take charge, provide input, and make decisions about things they know very little about. This isn’t a statement about capacity or ability. It is a statement about lack of time and experience working in ministry. Even if an Elder is a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, it doesn’t equip them to provide spiritual oversight at a church. The two environments are very different. As a result, the Lead Pastor who works at the church full-time and with years of experience can struggle with an Elder’s uninformed decision-making process.
2. Elder’s feel a sense of responsibility to keep the lead pastor “in check”. This dynamic can occur because often elders play a pivotal role in hiring a lead pastor. This creates an employer employee relationship, where the employer has very little or no ministry experience and yet is going to provide oversight to a pastor. As a result, the Elders will feel responsible to challenge, hold accountable, or “second guess” a lead pastor’s decisions. This will in turn create pastoral frustration, trust issues, and burnout.
The Solution
The Elders need to recognize that not everyone on the team is equal in terms of gifting, education, and experience. This means that an Elder Board needs to discover and recognize individual strengths and weaknesses and learn to compliment and defer to one another. When an Elder Board is healthy, not everyone will feel the need to weigh in on every issue or decision. Instead, they will ask more questions, be more prayerful, and avoid trying to provide all the answers.
The Elders need to remember one of their primary roles is to support the Lead Pastor. Of course, there is always an accountability piece that needs to be in place between an Elder Board and Lead Pastor, but this is not their primary role. Because the role of a Lead Pastor can be a very lonely position, it is critical the Elders give the freedom and support to do their job effectively. After all, Lead Pastors are usually the most qualified, educated, and experienced (working 8-10 hours a day in ministry). Micromanagement by lay Elders will only frustrate the situation.
If you are experiencing a Lead Pastor and Elder struggle, we are here to help!! Please don’t hesitate to contact Revive Consulting to discuss how we can provide assistance and support for your current leadership challenge. Send us an email.