Challies pointed to this discussion on the failures of the Senior Pastor model. Now, as a senior pastor, why would I allude to such a thing? I think many pastors, even those how have elder-led church governance, deep down act as if they are the center of the universe. God wants us to be servant leaders, though. Too many pastors feel as if God’s given them a leadership team so that they don’t have to do ministry they don’t feel like doing (often couched in terms of giftedness). But God has called pastors (read: elders) to be shepherds and overseers of the entire work of the church. This means that we are called to do more than just sit as a board and make decisions and that there is more involved than just being relational with people. Pastoring means oversight and shepherding. It means doing things we don’t FEEL like doing and laying down all of our selfish proclivities for the glory of Christ and the good of His bride, the Church. This is the kind of ministry that characterized Christ and the early apostles and this the ministry that should characterize us. Not some SENIORPASTOR-centered limitation that stifles the plurality of leadership that God has ordained in a local body.
