I have the joy of teaching in our Doctor of Ministry Program at Southeastern Seminary.  It is an outstanding program of study with majors in Expository Preaching, Leadership, Biblical Counseling, Faith and Culture, and Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth.  You can learn more about the program by going here or by phone at 919-761-2216.

Recently, I received a very fine paper from one of my students on “Leadership in the Local Church.”  The author is a pastor of a very prominent church in the Southern Baptist Convention who is leading it through a time of transition following a long tenured pastor.  The focus of his paper was on how to lead a local congregation through a time of transition without blowing up the place.  As many of us know this is easier said than done.

With his permission I will share in several blog entries an edited version of his paper.  There is real wisdom in what you will read.  For obvious reasons the particular church and the pastor’s identity will not be disclosed.

Pastoral Leadership, Part 7: Communication

The seventh principle that must guide any new leader in the midst of transition is the principle of communication.  There is much written and said in our day about communication.  As we counsel men and women preparing for marriage it cannot be emphasized enough the importance of communicating with one another.  As we think about our own relationship to God, the principle of communication is always before us.  We teach new disciples that through God’s Word He communicates his plan and His will for our lives.  We also teach them that through prayer we communicate our hearts to Him.  Thus, we teach the most basic tool of discipleship in a personal quiet time with God each day, emphasizing the importance of communication in the relationship.  Well, it is also accurate that a new leader, in transition, must truly understand the importance of communication with staff, with lay leaders, and with the church family as a whole.  What must be communicated?  There are at least three primary things that every leader must communicate: who he is as a person; what his vision for the organization is and how that vision will be achieved.

Every new leader must allow his organization to know who he really is as a person.  We live in a world where privacy has been established as a premium.  Yet, there is no substitute for individuals within any organization getting to know their leader on a personal level.  This is especially true in the church.  As I dealt with the Pastor Search Team, they indicated they were looking for four things in the next pastor.  First, they wanted someone who preached God’s Word unapologetically, communicating God’s truth week after week.  Secondly they wanted a strong family man, whose wife and children complemented his life.  Thirdly, they wanted someone recognized as being a leader in a city where he served.  Finally, they wanted a pastor who would love the people, and who would allow the people to love him.  There is a desire among believers to know their pastor, and to be able to love him and his family.  As leaders of these congregations, we must be willing to open our hearts and lives to people.

There must also be the communication of what the new leader casts as a vision for the organization.  Every organization should have core values that clearly define who the organization is and what it considers its primary goals.  William Plamondon, author of the article on “Energy and Leadership” writes: “Leaders need to help set the standards to which the organization aspires, to challenge its members with a lofty goal, and to make sure that everyone understands the goal and what he or she must do to attain it.  It is the leader’s responsibility to communicate this goal in a clear and compelling way that inspires the organization to move to new heights and at faster speeds that it would ordinarily attain on its own” (The Drucker Foundation, The Leader of the Future, 277).  John Maxwell, in one of his Injoy Life Club lessons, quotes the legendary University of Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, as stating that there are five things that winning team members need to know: 1) Tell me what you expect from me; 2) Give me an opportunity to perform; 3) Let me know how I am getting along; 4) Give me guidance where I need it; 5) Reward me according to my contribution.  Without question the new leader must communicate effectively the vision God has placed on his heart.

The new leader must communicate some specific steps that will be taken to achieve the vision and goals.  Each year I have found that our staff retreat has become a real highlight for me and for other staff members.  It is a time of vision-casting from my heart as the pastor and it has become a time of reporting what the previous year yielded in terms of successes and lessons learned.  One of the greatest responses of feedback that has been received is the gratefulness for specific numeric goals that have been placed before them and specific ideas of programs to be executed.  Each staff member has their area in which they are encouraged to dream, plan, and execute programs that will reach out to the lost as well as grow and develop believers.  They must not be micromanaged, but rather they must be empowered to lead out in their respective areas.  However, there are some major church-wide emphases that must come from the heart and vision of the pastor.  They key is for everyone to walk away sensing that they have been valued, heard, and understood.  This will be accomplished only by clear communication from the leader.

In the closing words of The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker pens these words: “Only executive effectiveness can enable this society to harmonize its two needs: the needs of the organization to obtain from the individual the contribution it needs, and the need of the individual to have organization serve as his tool for the accomplishment of his purpose.  Effectiveness must be learned” (174). The issue of leadership is a multifaceted issue.  The new leader moving into a role of transition will find challenges and blessings that will be very unique to the situation where he has been called to serve.  And yet, there are some essential principles that will serve any new leader well as they carry out the call Christ has placed upon their lives.  These principles that we have discussed are certainly not exhaustive.  They have become in my life however, guiding principles that continue to impact decisions made and steps taken as I carry out this call of leadership in my own personal life.  I pray that I will continually look toward godliness, integrity, courage, passion, compassion, competence, and communication as principles to lean upon each day.