There was once a cartoon depicting everyone's favorite pastor (it was before political correctness and so it was a man) and the pastor was split right down the middle: One one side his hair was high and tight and the other side it was trendy and brushed his collar in a casual style. One side he wore a full suit with tie and the other side he wore casual slacks and shirt. In one hand he carried a massively thick Bible and in the other a book titled, Engaging Illustrations for Living Life. The goal of the cartoon was to illustrate that finding a perfect pastor can be difficult because no two people may have the same kind of pastor in mind. In our buffet style church we can become a little too focused on individual preferences and view preaching, worship, music, etc. as we would entertainment instead of a community activity to draw us closer to one another and closer to God.
As a result, I believe, the "job description" in the Book of Discipline has grown - not logically or efficiently - but in response to all those competing concepts of what a pastor should do.
When we examine, however, that list of responsibilities and duties of Elders and Local Pastors, we get a hint as to why clergy can be so burned out, why laity can be under involved, and where the base problem in many churches may rest. We have taken all the work of the church and developed an expectation that the Pastor has to do all the work associated with ministry in the church. In short, we have created a system in which the clergy (elder or local Pastor) have had dumped on them their own tasks as a pastor but also the tasks that should be either a) the work of the laity or b) shared with the laity for greatest corporate missional effectiveness and efficiency.
I have highlighted in yellow in this list the areas I feel are those that should be shared or done by the laity in a church. Some things should be down as a common task off ALL those in a church, some should be under the leadership of the pastor, and some laity should claim as their area of ministry.
Book of Discipline: ¶ 340. Responsibilities and Duties of Elders and Local Pastors (The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church -- 2016
¶ 340. Responsibilities and Duties of Elders and Licensed Pastors-
Four general areas : 1) Word and Ecclesial Acts; b) Sacraments ; c) Order ; d) Service
a) Word and ecclesial acts:
(1) To preach the Word of God, lead in worship, read and teach the Scriptures, and engage the people in study and witness.
(a) To ensure faithful transmission of the Christian faith.
(b) To lead people in discipleship and evangelistic outreach that others might come to know Christ and to follow him.
(2)To counsel persons with personal, ethical, or spiritual struggles.
(3)To perform the ecclesial acts of marriage and burial.
(a) To perform the marriage ceremony after due counsel with the parties
involved and in accordance with the laws of the state and the rules of
The United Methodist Church. The decision to perform the ceremony shall
be the right and responsibility of the pastor.
(b) To conduct funeral and memorial services and provide care and grief counseling. (Primarily because we do not view funerals as sacrament)
(4)To visit in the homes of the church and the community, especially among the sick, aged, imprisoned, and others in need.
(5) To maintain all confidences inviolate, including confessional
confidences except in the cases of suspected child abuse or neglect, or
in cases where mandatory reporting is required by civil law.
b) Sacrament:
(1) To administer the sacraments of baptism and the Supper of the Lord according to Christ's ordinance.
(a) To prepare the parents and sponsors before baptizing infants or
children, and instruct them concerning the significance of baptism and
their responsibilities for the Christian training of the baptized child.
(b) To encourage reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant and renewal of baptismal vows at different stages of life.
(c) To encourage people baptized in infancy or early childhood to make
their profession of faith, after instruction, so that they might become
professing members of the church.
(d) To explain the meaning of the Lord's Supper and to encourage regular
participation as a means of grace to grow in faith and holiness.
(e) To select and train deacons and lay members to serve the consecrated communion elements.
(2) To encourage the private and congregational use of the other means of grace.
c) Order:
(1) To be the administrative officer of the local church and to
assure that the organizational concerns of the congregation are
adequately provided for.
(a) To give pastoral support, guidance, and training to the lay
leadership, equipping them to fulfill the ministry to which they are
called.
(b) To give oversight to the educational program of the church and encourage the use of United Methodist literature and media.
(c) To be responsible for organizational faithfulness, goal setting, planning and evaluation.
(d) To search out and counsel men and women for the ministry of deacons,
elders, local pastors and other church related ministries. (Since this area is already listed as part of the SPRC list of goals already)
(2)To administer the temporal affairs of the church in their appointment, the annual conference, and the general church.
(a) To administer the provisions of the Discipline.
(b) To give an account of their pastoral ministries to the charge and annual conference according to the prescribed forms.
(c) To provide leadership for the funding ministry of the congregation.
To ensure membership care including compliance with charitable giving
documentation requirements and to provide appropriate pastoral care, the
pastor, in cooperation with the financial secretary, shall have access
to and responsibility for professional stewardship of congregational
giving records.
(d) To model and promote faithful financial stewardship and to encourage
giving as a spiritual discipline by teaching the biblical principles of
giving.
(e) To lead the congregation in the fulfillment of its mission through
full and faithful payment of all apportioned ministerial support,
administrative, and benevolent funds.
(f) To care for all church records and local church financial
obligations, and certify the accuracy of all financial, membership, and
any other reports submitted by the local church to the annual conference
for use in apportioning costs back to the church.
(3)To participate in denominational and conference programs and training opportunities.
(a) To seek out opportunities for cooperative ministries with other United Methodist pastors and churches.
(b) To be willing to assume supervisory responsibilities within the connection.
(4) To lead the congregation in racial and ethnic inclusiveness.
d) Service;
(1) To embody the teachings of Jesus in servant ministries and servant leadership.
(2) To give diligent pastoral leadership in ordering the life of the congregation for discipleship in the world.
(3) To build the body of Christ as a caring and giving community, extending the ministry of Christ to the world.
(4) To participate in community, ecumenical and interreligious concerns
and to encourage the people to become so involved and to pray and labor
for the unity of the Christian community.
From The Book of
Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2016. Copyright 2016 by The
United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.
See - how much more balanced that is? How it sets up a relationship between Pastor and Laity that involves both, assigns responsibilities to both, and gives clear guidance to goals and purpose for both as they work TOGETHER to a common goal - the mission of the church.
Everyone is to be in ministry - to achieve that - maybe we should address the barriers in thinking, traditions, habits, and inclination to just have the 'hired person" do it all. That, however, is not the picture of the church in scripture.
An excellent resource is "Identifying and Sustaining Effective Clergy Leadership" a document of the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Oklahoma Annual Conference. (Oklahoma Annual Conference, UMC, 1501 NW 24th Street, OKC, OK 73106).. It focuses on clergy effectiveness by defining them in reference to three areas: Living Discipleship Fruitfulness; Leading Congregational Fruitfulness; and Developing Missional Fruitfulness. Instead of a "refrigerator list" behaviors the areas are grouped into more mission oriented objectives. There is also a page on the role of the District Superintendent and it includes a checklist of flags for "ineffective clergy."
In reviewing that, it struck this writer that a similar list might be a good self-evaluation tool for a church as it considered its own role in the whole larger process of mission and ministry.
As such the following might be questions a church might explore annually:
Has the congregation lost its sense of mission and purpose?
Have it lost interest in deep, challenging sermons and studies?
Has it lost the capacity or interest in reaching people for Christ?
Has it lost the ability to demonstrate leadership among the people?
Has it lost the ability to deal with conflict or does it merely acquiesce to the conflict's major voices?
H as it lost the ability and willingness to work to achieve the goals and mission of the church?
