What is a Pastor?
Pastors: Sunday Production Coordinators
Pastors: Making Sure Our Programs Happen

Pastors spend a lot of time coming up with programs and program ideas, getting people to run them and making sure the funding is in place for them. Most churches do some sort of discipleship program, Alpha, newcomers luncheons, summer picnics, Purpose Driven Life, youth groups, junior high groups, kids Sunday school and the list goes on. Typically (unless you’re at a larger church) it is the job of the senior pastor to make sure all these things are in order; whether it is directly or indirectly.

We usually depend on our children’s pastor to put on a program for our kids at least every Sunday and hopefully every Wednesday. Youth pastors are expected to do good youth services and if the pastor is good, a youth service that will attract the unsaved youth. At the two larger churches I worked at, as a pastoral intern, I spent most of my time running programs for the pastors (and of course graphic design work). Running picnics, day camps, mission trips, baptism classes and senior nights took up most of my time and occasionally would get a chance to teach.

Is it really the pastor’s jobs to fill up the schedules of their congregations with programs? I’m not even talking about if these programs are useful or not, but I am asking if it is the pastor’s job to run them. Are they called to be nothing more than a YMCA coordinator with the role of making sure the calendar has a large selection of events to attend?

On top of this, I know a lot of us pastors spend a good chunk of that time advertising these programs. Not only are we tied up in running, organizing and thinking up these programs but we spend so much time designing advertisement schemes to make sure everyone knows about them. It can be as simple as the weekly bulletin or as complicated as phone calls, mass e-mail updates or specific cards pushing each event. Announcements on Sundays take up more and more time, but we would never think to cut it, because it is so crucial that the congregation knows where the pastor is spending his time.

Creating, organizing, running, advertising and worry about every program the church does is not the job of a pastor. If they are, then they aren’t pastors, they are simply program coordinators. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but if that’s what they are doing and where they are spending their time then we should probably call it what it is. Pastors have a much more relational role, which I’ll eventually get to. I’m having too much fun talking about what a pastor isn’t.

What is a Pastor?
Pastors: Sunday Production Coordinators
Pastors: Making Sure Our Programs Happen

Since I was a kid, my only experience with the pastor of my church was on Sunday. I watched him get up front and preach, or do announcements and then shake my hand on my way out the door. This is after all the pastor’s main duty right? To organize the Sunday service, preach, and get me ready for my upcoming week in the world.

My experience with this changed a little bit moving into youth groups because my youth pastors were a little more relational. I hung out with them during the week and actually overtime became friends with my pastors (eventually planted a church with one of them.) Still a lot of their time and manpower went into organizing the youth events. They certainly did spend time with us during the week, and this gave me insight into a different type of pastor.

I am fascinated to know how much self esteem is wrapped up into a service for a pastor. I struggle with this myself and I know the guys I’m working with do to. Depending on the numbers, comments after, how much money we take in to help pay our rent and how we felt after the Sunday service totally sets the mood for the rest of the week. We invite people to Sundays, we talk about what we do Sundays, the space is set up for what we do on Sundays, we spend our week preparing for Sundays and all our good ideas are for Sundays. What ends up happening is that we pay these people we call pastors to run an event for us once a week. If they do a good job we leave satisfied, if they do a bad job we leave disappointed. Pastors have become nothing more than our Sunday production coordinators.

What if the role was a little different? What if we had pastors who worried about Wednesday as much as Sunday because their role can be fulfilled just as easily that day as any other (and I don’t mean preparing your message for Sunday)? What if pastors weren’t also our teachers? What would they do with their time? What if pastors weren’t the creative arts director? How could they use that creative energy throughout the week? What would that look like? What would that leave us with? What if we didn’t demand that our pastors spent 9-5 in an office (I have friends who were in this position)? Should a pastor be paid by the church? Can anyone be a pastor? If so, then what do we call the person that is paid? What are they being paid for? I got a lot of stuff to work through with this one.

What is a Pastor?
Pastors: Sunday Production Coordinators
Pastors: Making Sure Our Programs Happen

There are three of us planting theStory, a church plant here in Sarnia. I was 17 or so when I first decided I wanted to plant a church in Sarnia, and my ideas of what the church would look like, let alone my role in the church have changed quite a bit since then. When I first imagined a church plant I pictured a youth group with older people in it. I’d run it the same way I’d run a youth group. I would spend my days preparing the upcoming Sunday’s sermon, make sure the drama ideas, powerpoints, songs, activities all flowed perfectly together and woo people with a great production. The music would be better than any church, the preaching would be more informed and better educated than anywhere else and it would just be cool. My role was more of a production manager, but I knew I was good at that.

theStory is anything but a production. We show up and sit on couches and usually start 20-30 minutes after we say we are going to. Kids are running around screaming; sometimes we give them instruments so they can participate, which never makes for a lovely sound. The sermon is always broken up by people asking questions and people making ridiculous and brilliant comments. There are no lights and our sound system sucks. To top if all off, there are three of us planting this church, not just one. All this is to say that my role is much different than I imagined it to be.

Our first year we had budgeted 40k for salaries and in our second year we can only afford 15k. Does this change our roles and what we do in the church because the leaders aren’t paid as much? If it does, should it? How do we decide who gets what money? I’m 23, Darryl is 25 and Joe is over 30; should our ages play any role in what our responsibilities are? Some of us are better educated than others, should that change anything? Some of us have families to feed, should that change anything?

There are a million questions that we are asking to figure out exactly how this style of pastoring works. I do know though that nothing I learned in Bible College, or working at other churches, or read in any books have helped me very much. In a lot of ways we feel alone in this. Sometimes I look for guidance in those that aren’t in official pastoring jobs but I see as strong leaders, they usually have a lot more insight.

So what is my role? I’m not exactly sure. I’m still trying to figure out that question. I think all three of us are. I know I do a lot of things for theStory. I know I think about it day and night. I know I cast visions for it. I know I teach on Sundays and try to help build a healthy theology in the community. I know I try and help people build community with each other. I know I worry about the finances and help do the books. I know I feel a sense of pride when talking about the community and also a sense of responsibility on how the community looks to the outside world. What separates me from anyone else in the community?

Is the pastor’s role to think and act on behalf of the church full time? Does that make someone a pastor? Is someone officially a pastor if they are paid to be one? Is a pastor one that teaches on Sunday? Is a pastor one who is responsible for the spiritual well-being of a community? Does a pastor have to be full time?

I’m feeling a series coming on. Defining what a pastor is and what they do and if it’s really a necessary part of a community in that it’s a paid position. Or have we just made up positions in the church to pass off our responsibility and to keep with the Hebrew Bible ideas that priests go to God on behalf of us.