TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP

Paul D. Borden
NORTH AMERICA

1. 80% to 85% of congregations are on a

plateau or in decline
2. The average congregation ranges
between 75-124
3. Church attendance is on a decline
NORTH AMERICA

4. The Number of Protestants is in decline

5. The net loss of congregations weekly is
almost 40
6. North America has the third largest
secular population in the world
7. More and more people are attending
fewer congregations
SOME REASONS FOR THE
CURRENT STATE OF THE
CHURCH
NORTH AMERICA

1. A consumer oriented culture that says

the church is primarily for believers

2. This consumer mentality affects the

Church’s:
Purpose (Mission)
Vision
Morale
Faith
NORTH AMERICA

A Theology of Smallness that:

Validates our current situation

Makes us feel better about

ourselves and our ministries
NORTH AMERICA

A Therapeutic Culture that:

Preaches Sentimentality

Honors the dysfunctional

over the healthy
NORTH AMERICA

An unbiblical devaluation of
leadership that results in:

Congregations designed to be
small
Call trumping gifting
Fear of leadership
Leaders replaced by care givers
SOME assumptions
SOME assumptions

1. God expects His Church to grow.

2. Congregations not growing

through evangelism are
disobedient.

3. Healthy congregations will be

growing ones.
SOME assumptions

4. Pastors who are unwilling to lead

need to re-consider their calling.

5. Leadership is earned, not given

automatically.

6. Leadership can be learned.

SOME assumptions

7. Developing as a leader, for those

without the gift, does not happen
without the help of other leaders
(mentors, coaches, etc).
A Theology of Mission
A Theology of Mission

1. God is a missionary God.

2. He picked Israel to bless so they

would bless the nations.

3. Israel failed in its mission.

4. Jesus came to build His church to

continue the mission.
A Theology of Mission

5. The purpose of the Church is to

frustrate the Evil One.

6. The Church is to build from all

nations a people for God.

7. God’s goal: one day people from

all over the world will stand
before Him.
A Theology of Mission

8. The implications of this theology:

(1) The primary role of the Church is

missional.

(2) Pastors are constantly working

cross-culturally and are therefore
missionaries.
Requirements for leadership

I am taking Leith Anderson’s concept of leadership as

the working definition for this presentation. Leadership
is seeing a need and working to get that need met.
Requirements for leadership

1. I believe the number one

requirement for leadership in the
Church today is passion. The
pastor:

• has a passion for Jesus Christ, the

Gospel, and reaching lost people.
• works with a continual sense of
urgency
Requirements for leadership

2. The second requirement is

courage.
• leading a consumer oriented congregation
to become missional does not come
without deep pain.

• In fact if the leader is not willing to lose

his/her position for the mission, the
mission will probably not be implemented.
Requirements for leadership

Passion begins with a prophetic sense of

“burden” that creates a fire in the belly
that cannot be quenched.
Requirements for leadership

3. The third requirement is wisdom.

Wisdom means
• I know myself
• I will become a continual learner
• I know what I cannot do & will marshal
the resources get it accomplished.
• I understand the role & job that needs to
be done.
There’s no one more dangerous than a passionate courageous fool.
Requirements for leadership

4. The fourth requirement is that I am

positive.

• I believe that we are going to win

because we work for the right person.
• I understand that in today’s
environment people are motivated to
serve and work on the basis of
compassion not compulsion.
Requirements for leadership

5. Finally … I am willing to take

responsibility for what happens
and not blame others if it fails.

If a ministry fails it is because of:

The environment – This is a missionary issue
Lack of commitment – This is a vision issue
Spiritual one – This is a denial issue

However, these are all leadership issues!!!

The Pastor Leader’s New
Job Description
The Pastor Leader’s
New Job Description

1. The pastor is the spiritual leader

of the congregation, which means:
• Communicating the Word of God well

• Calling the congregation to spiritual

disciplines, individually & collectively

• Protecting God’s reputation in the

conduct of congregational ministry
The Pastor Leader’s
New Job Description

2. The pastor is to minister cross-

culturally as a missionary, which
means:

• Focusing the congregation on the

Mission
• Leading the congregation to focus
on others
• Helping the congregation target the
community
The Pastor Leader’s
New Job Description

2. The pastor is to minister cross-

culturally as a missionary, which
means:
• Creating urgency and casting
vision continually
• Letting people feel the need
• Focusing on a changed community
• Telling stories, stories, stories
• Speaking positively
• Addressing what the group can do
The Pastor Leader’s
New Job Description

3. The pastor develops leaders

which, means developing leaders
in the:

• Staff to help them develop leaders

• Board to help them develop leaders
• Congregation who will develop
leaders
The Pastor Leader’s
New Job Description

4. While the pastor is creating this

new job description the pastor
must:

make sure that the normal roles

and expectations are met until
the congregation has learned new
expectations for the pastor’s role.
Lessons from
Peter Drucker
Lessons From Peter Drucker

1. The mission comes first and for

the church the mission is changed
lives.

2. The function of management is to

make the church more church-like,
not more business-like.
Lessons From Peter Drucker

3. An organization begins to die the

day it begins to be run for the
benefit of the insiders not for the
outsiders.

4. Focus on opportunities not

problems and as a result fail in
accomplishing their mission.
Lessons From Peter Drucker

5. People decisions are the ultimate

control mechanism of an
organization

• how those decisions are made

tell the rest of the people what
your real values are.
Lessons From Peter Drucker

6. The 3 most important questions

for any organization are:

• What is our business?

• Who is our customer?

• What does our customer