Hiring Preachers and Being Stagnant
At the fundamental level a church to grow must change its thinking first and foremost of all. The reason that congregations become stagnant is that the thinking of the leaders has helped the congregation to grow to its present size but fails to continue to grow because the leaders have not grown. For the congregation to grow again, the leaders have to think new thoughts. The problem is that often the leadership is looking for a minister like them. Often the preacher that is hired will parrot the thoughts and views of the eldership. If he does not parrot the thoughts than he will not get the job. One of the best things about coming to Castle Rock was that I was asked to come out without having any intentions of taking the job. This caused a sense of honesty because I was not trying to earn a job but was simply being as clear and frank as I could be. I had nothing to lose. The eldership was amazing because I would mention stuff that they were not familiar with but instead of rejecting these words they started asking questions about the ideas. The eldership sensed that new thoughts lead to new growth. The eldership here was looking for a leader and not a parrot. This mindset of finding someone to parrot the thoughts of the leaders has caused a ton of trouble in the church because most elderships bring in a man to “help the church grow.” This process is self-defeating because the man hired is at the same level of the leaders. If the leaders cannot guide the congregation to the next level of growth than the minister will not be able to because he is sharing the same thoughts with them. After a few years the minister is fired and the cycle repeats itself again. A leadership should find someone who has new thoughts and discuss if these will be beneficial to the congregation. Finding a minister “like the leadership” will only give the same results that the leadership have received.
Related posts:
- One Elder and the Hiring Process
- Cultural Fit in Hiring
- Hiring Practices
- Philip Fulmer and Preachers being Fired
- Praise to Preachers
About The Author
I believe this is a cycle that is repeated to the hurt of a congregation, leaderships, and ministers. How do we break this cycle?
Show me a church that is growing and I am pretty sure you will find a church that practices the same values of Jesus (that means they live these out rather than just talk about them) such as “grace and truth”, “self-sacrificial service,” “loving each other,” “the least of these,” etc… Show me a church that is not growing and I am pretty sure these values will be absent, if not in all, at least in most. For instance, when church members fall into the trap of thinking the work of the church is simply for their ‘clergy,’ what is really being implied is that sacrificing self for the sake of someone else is the role of the ministers and elders.
This is the most frustrating aspect of congregational ministry. Fortunately, I am finding some church members who are willing to “come along” and learn a new way of being “God’s Ambassadors” to others. That is the only way I know to change people so that when they see someone in need they will know that God is calling them, not the minister or deacon of benevolence – but them, to be God’s hand’s and feet.
Grace and peace,
Rex
Great point. Doing what Jesus wants get results, just talking about it gets ____________