mgpcpastor's blog

Things back up in my feed reader.
Then I group some related stuff together in a post.
Upon arrival in Mount Gambier I started using the job description ‘pastor’ in contrast to ‘minister’. I’ve also pretty much divested myself of any title. ‘Reverend’ still bobs up from time to time. I managed to go two years as state moderator with the whole church never finding out my ‘title’ had been modified to ‘Right Reverend’.
(Which was lucky, I like them all and the thought of killing anyone who found out about it was never appealing)
Some of them call me ‘Pastor’.
It is odd that they want to call me by my job and not by my name. I don’t call them dairy-farmer, cobbler or agronomist, for example. So, what’s in a (job) title?
Some folk were a bit put out about it at the beginning. They’ve either got over it or have figured out that they might as well wait till I’m gone to complain. I even got asked once why the church now had a pastor instead of a minister. It was a good question. I told the people involved that they had what they had always had, but now we were using a Bible word to describe what I do.
Due to blessing and growth I have a colleague who last year was given the job title ‘Assistant to the Minister’ or ‘Assistant Minister’, I can’t really remember which. During his time here he has been my invaluable colleague and partner.
At the same time I was told that my job description was being altered to that of Senior Pastor. There was literally no escape.
At Church Matters, the blog of Nine Marks (a movement that seeks to encourage Christian growth) Mike Gilbart-Smith questions how the notion of the concept of First Among Equals, how a Senior Pastor fits into the concept of eldership which generally is understood to represent a team of equals.
Next Gilbart-Smith interacts with an article from Dave Harvey, who helpfully spells out the function of a ‘presiding elder’. The basic gist of Harvey’s six points is that any group which does not have a designated leader will have one by default as the individual who is either most vocal or most gifted will come to the fore. A church without a designated leader would generally fragment, or function in a fragmented way. Gilbart-Smith’s interaction with Harvey goes on to suggest that the elder charged with preaching the Bible is the person most likely to be the designated leader. He doesn’t offer much reason why this is so.
Purely and functionally those of us set aside to teach and pastor do spend more time thinking about our church than those who also work in full-time employment. That’s one reason why we have opinions and ideas before others. This is not necessarily leadership though.
Michael Mcinley responds with observations drawn from his own experience in ‘Can Someone Who is 29 Years Old Be a “Senior” Pastor?’
I liked the basic concession to the fact that some usage of the words ‘pastor’ and ‘elder’ are almost inescapable because most Christians expect them to be used. Additional titles like ‘Senior’ seem impossible to reconcile with Jesus’ injunction to let no man call us ‘Father’.
In closing Mcinley offers two precautions that those stuck in ‘senior’ positions do well to heed:
1. Because elders are godly men, some may naturally be deferential towards authority. So a pastor in the “first among equals” position will need to work hard to draw the other elders out and get them involved in the decision-making process. So in our elders meetings, I try to wait until every other elder has spoken before I state my opinion. That way they say what they really think rather than adjusting their thoughts to come in line with my opinion.
2. Our hearts are prone to self-worship. We all secretly believe that we know what we’re doing and don’t need much help. We need to cultivate humility and actually listen to what our fellow elders are saying. This helps them to develop as leaders and helps to avoid a monarchy. Plus, it’s great to have a group of men to share the blame the burden of leadership genuinely.

It’s been a great encouragement to see a broader spread of leadership taking root at mgpc. Hopefully whenever I’m leading it’s because of what I’ve thought out, planned and suggested, not simply because I’ve got a title.
Senior or not.