Pastors' Self-Perceptions

Leadership: Larry Thomas
Saturday, July 1, 2006

Consider another key insight: most pastors neither see themselves as leaders, nor aspire to be leaders. In a national survey of Protestant Senior Pastors, the Barna Research Group asked them to identify their spiritual gifts.

Only 12% of the pastors - that's about one out of every eight - said they have the gift of leadership.

In contrast, two-thirds of all pastors said they have the gift of teaching or preaching.

They have accurately recognized that teaching and leading are two very distinct responsibilities and activities, requiring different skills that produce differing results. The prevailing mind set among most pastors is that their primary job is to preach from the Bible and provide opportunities for teaching and caring (e.g., worship services, Sunday School classes).

Studies have shown that there is a very high level of frustration among most pastors: they went to seminary to learn how to preach and pastor - not how to lead - yet people expect strong, direction-setting, visionary leadership.

Another relevant finding from research is that less than one out of every twenty Senior Pastors can articulate the vision for the ministry he/she leads. Combine the personal conviction that they have not been called to lead with the inability to articulate God's vision for their ministry and you can clearly see that in many churches we are asking more of our pastors than they can provide.

A church can compensate for the absence of many skills and resources, but it cannot overcome the absence of effective leadership. If that leadership is not going to come from pastors, then it must come from somewhere else.

And that is where the practice of team leadership enters the picture. Next month we will look at Team Leadership in churches to assess its ability to fill the leadership gap.

Until next month, remember that a person's most lasting memory of you is how you made them feel. God bless you as you lead and serve.

To receive more information about leadership perceptions among pastors and ministry leaders, contact me at Lthomas@hoksba.org or 316-204-5632.