"HOT! HOT! HOT!" Gathering

The Transition Team is planning “Hot – Hot – Hot” Gathering on Sunday night, February 10^th, at 6 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Why is this gathering going to be so hot? Because we will have Hot Dogs to eat, Hot Fudge Sundaes to enjoy, and a Hot Topic to discuss. This is the congregational event centered around the "Embracing the New Pastor's Leadership and Our Future" task that the team has been working on.

After we dine on the Hot Dogs (with chips) and Hot Fudge Sundaes the Transition Team will share some of the following information: Pastoral Expectations Results (The Survey Says …), the completed Church Profile, compiled data on how pastors (locally and nationally) allocate their time, and the remaining work left for the Transition Team to do. An open forum for questions and answers will also be provided.

This promises to be a very informative evening. Everyone has been invited to come and share in the congregational fellowship as we continue to look forward to the bright future God has planned for First Wesleyan Church.

Biblical Absolutes for Pastors

In preparation for the Pastoral Expectations Survey I have been attempting to teach the congregation to distinguish between the cultural and biblical expectations of pastors. In this post I will share some of that teaching:

1) Someone serving as a pastor should have his/her heart set on the position. – 1 Timothy 3:1

They must have a God given aspiration and passion to be a pastor. Sense of “call” from God. They need a sense of divine compulsion – “I must”. God gives an intensity and motive. This calling will be displayed through hard work and a grateful spirit.

2) He/she must meet the qualifications for the position. – 1 Timothy 3:2-7

The “fruit of the Spirit” should be evident in the walk and witness of a pastor. They are driven by the desire to NEVER bring reproach upon the name of their Lord. Their conduct flows out of their character.

3) He/she must serve as an overseer of the church like a shepherd oversees a flock of sheep. - Acts 20:28

As an overseer the pastor is responsible to:

a) Protect the flock and to guard the truth from perversion and error which would cause the people to fall away or drift into apostasy (gatekeeper of sound doctrine). - Acts 20:28-31 / Titus 1:9 / Hebrews 13:17

b) Feed the flock (an obvious reference to biblical preaching and teaching). - 1 Peter 5:1-2 (John 21:17)

c) Set an example to the flock. Sheep are followers. Pastors say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”- 1 Peter 5:3

d) Direct, manage and guide the affairs of the flock (administration and organization). - 1 Timothy 3:4-5, 5:17

e) Equip the flock to do the work of the ministry.- Ephesians 4:11-12

f) Pray for a spiritual covering to be over the flock. - Acts 6:1-4 (Also, Paul’s many prayers for the churches of the New Testament) / James 5:14

I have challenged the congregation not to ask themselves:

What kind of pastor do we want? – Or – What kind of pastor do I need?

Rather ask: What kind of pastor do we need? This question can be expanded to ask:

What kind of pastor do we need to help us be the kind of church that can reach our kind of world?

Pastoral Expectations Survey

The Transition Team will distribute the following survey on January 27th to all church attenders. This survey will be one of the primary sources for the Pastoral Profile that the team is creating for the church board to use during the pastoral search.

First Wesleyan Church

Pastoral Expectations Survey

CHARACTERISTICS:

Listed below are several alternatives touching upon important dimensions of a pastor’s personality, temperament, giftedness and natural instincts. Using the seven point scale between each set of alternatives, please circle the number which best describes the type of pastor that you think can effectively serve our church, “1” meaning most like the characteristic on the left, “7” meaning most like the characteristic on the right, “4” meaning an equal mix of both (realizing that no pastor will be an equal mix of everything).

Biblical Scholar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pastoral Caregiver

Strong Leader 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Good Administrator

Evangelist/Witness 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Discipler/Teacher

Innovator/New Ideas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Maintains Tradition

Thoughtful Thinker 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Emotional Feeler

Challenging/Prophetic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Encouraging/Shepherding

Facilitator/Enabler 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hands on Worker

Organized/Planner 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goes with the Flow

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Listed below are ten tasks that are often expected from pastors. Please rate these pastoral responsibilities according to their importance for our congregation using the scale:

5 = Very High / 4 = High / 3 = Moderate / 2 = Low / 1 = Very Low

___ Administration and Management
(Preparing for and attending committee & board meetings; overseeing business affairs)

_____ Developing Leadership in the Laity
(Mentoring, guiding & training church members as they serve in ministry positions)

_____ Discipling Belivers in the Faith
(Instructing in Biblical principles & modeling in Biblical practices for daily living)

_____ Evangelism and Outreach
(Promoting & practicing various ways of sharing the gospel with other people)

_____ Leadership and Casting Vision
(Seeking God’s direction & will for the church and keeping the church focused on it)

_____ Pastoral Counseling
(Listening to & giving guidance to people with personal, family or work related problems)

_____ Pastoral Visitation
(Visiting the sick, shut-in and bereaved as well as members in their homes)

_____ Planning the Church Calendar and Events
(Making a master schedule of church activities and putting together the details for them)

_____ Prayer and Intercession
(Asking for God’s guidance & empowerment for the church members & activities)

_____ Preaching and Teaching
(Preparing sermons and lessons that provide “spiritual food” for the congregation)

Which of these ten roles do you feel is most important for our congregation? __________

Which of the ten roles do you feel is least important? __________

Using the same list of tasks, please consider how many hours you would expect a pastor to spend on average during a typical week doing each task.

_____ Administration and Management
(Preparing for and attending committee & board meetings; overseeing business affairs)

_____ Developing Leadership in the Laity
(Mentoring, guiding & training church members as they serve in ministry positions)

_____ Discipling Belivers in the Faith
(Instructing in Biblical principles & modeling in Biblical practices for daily living)

_____ Evangelism and Outreach
(Promoting & practicing various ways of sharing the gospel with other people)

_____ Leadership and Casting Vision
(Seeking God’s direction & will for the church and keeping the church focused on it)

_____ Pastoral Counseling
(Listening to & giving guidance to people with personal, family or work problems)

_____ Pastoral Visitation
(Visiting the sick, shut-in and bereaved as well as members in their homes)

_____ Planning the Church Calendar and Events
(Making a master schedule of church activities and putting together the details for them)

_____ Prayer and Intercession
(Asking for God’s guidance & empowerment for the church members & activities)

_____ Preaching and Teaching
(Preparing sermons and lessons that provide “spiritual food” for the congregation)


I will report the survey results in February. In the mean time, check back in occasionally to see what else is going on with me and the transition team.

Transition Team Returns from Christmas Break

Our Transition Team met this past Sunday night after a six week break for all our church and family Christmas activities. There was a strong sense of joy as everyone reconnected to complete the remaining work on the congregational self study. The eleven of us have gotten very close to one another over the last seven months.

The team is switching the order of the remaining task from the way it would normally be done. The two remaining tasks are: 1) Examining Leadership and Decision-Making Concerns and 2) Embracing the New Pastor’s Leadership and Our Future. This second task would normally be the last one done by a Transition Team. We are doing the Embracing task first because of the timing issues with of our Wesleyan call process.

The “standard move date” in The Wesleyan Church for pastors is the week after the second Sunday of July. Our denominational efforts to have a uniform transition time among all districts creates a “prime candidating season” which is March – May. The Transition Team wants to have both a church and pastoral profile completed by March 1^st so that the pastoral search committee can be looking at candidates during this prime season.

The plan is for the Transition Team to spend the next six weeks working on the Embracing task and then six more weeks working on the Examining task before the annual church elections in April. The team will then return to the Embracing task which includes a good closure of the interim period and a clean exit of the intentional interim pastor.

The next blog will provide details about the upcoming “Pastoral Expectations Survey” that the Transition Team is preparing for the congregation.

The Traveler's Gift - Book Review

This book was a Christmas present from a dear and cherished friend, Ken Rogers. The book has a subtitle of: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success and is an easy read. It is written as a narrative in which David Ponder, a 46 year-old man who feels like a total failure as his life seems to be unraveling around him, travels back in time to meet leaders and heroes at crucial moments in their lives. From each one David receives one decision that will determine his success. By making these decisions David gets a second chance to create a life worth living, no matter what opposition or obstacles he might face.

The people David Ponder encounters and the seven decisions are:
Harry Truman – The buck stops here. I am responsible for my past and my future.
King Solomon – I will seek wisdom. I will be a servant to all.
Joshua Chamberlain – I am a person of action. I seize the moment. I choose now.
Christopher Columbus – I have a decided heart. My destiny is assured.
Anne Frank – Today I will choose to be happy. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.
Abraham Lincoln – I will greet each day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself.
Gabriel the Angel – I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith.

One scene that really challenged me was when Gabriel was showing David through this VERY, VERY large warehouse (so large that David could not see all of it) filled with pictures, papers and gadgets. David could not figure out what it was all about or why he was there so he asked Gabriel, “What is this place?” This is the answer that was given, “This, my friend, is the place that never was. This is the place where we keep all the things that were about to be delivered just as a person stopped working and praying for them. The contents of this warehouse are filled with the dreams and goals of the less courageous.”

Reaching People under 40 while Keeping People over 60 - Book Review

Since the Transition Team hasn't been meeting for a few weeks I have been doing some reading. Here is another book review - this book is one worth purchasing IMHO.

This is a book with a long title and big price (for a paperback especially - $16.49 at Amazon) but well worth every penny of it. In fact, the story that Ed Hammett tells about his maternal grandmother getting her Sunday School class to change meeting locations is worth the price of the book.

This book is all about getting the church “on mission” to reach the current and all future generations for Christ. What gives it distinction is the guidance if offers on how churches can approach this mission attempting to develop a “win-win” situation. In other words, to reach people under age 40 while keeping people over age 60. The book takes a coach approach by asking questions for personal reflection throughout the practical content.

I found this book a very good companion book to Change Your Church for Good. It should be in every pastor’s toolbox. Hammett believes that the church must be open to change; a change in form (methods) but not function (message). He says, “We live in a changing world, and the church will either change to continue to spread the changeless truth of the gospel or it will die.” He understands the challenge of helping those who are resistant to change to see the need for and acceptance of these changes. Therefore, pastors and church leaders who are change agents must know that “the key to change is to change values and beliefs before changing behavior.”

If you desire to see your church serve as a “hospital for sinners” and not just a “hotel for saints” then read this book. If you want to lead your church from maintenance to missions then get your leadership team to read this book.

For me, the author’s heart is revealed in the following two sentences: “I love the church, but we church people are killing many of our churches to preserve our comfort. My challenge for you: Are you trying to preserve the church for yourself and your generation, or are you trying to do church in a way that reaches out to a new generation?”