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This post continues
thoughts that began in “Tenuous Tenure—Part One: The Dangers and Damage of the
Pastor-Parish Rotisserie.” This post examines the third of three stages of
ministry that occur in the development of a pastor’s relationship to a
congregation, and to the development of new churches within the community in
which they are planted. Those pastors and new churches who survive the first
stage, “Putting Out Fires,” do so largely because they have learned an
important skill that is based on an important shift in perspective: “Spinning
the Plates.” Those who manage to supply sufficient spin and survive their fifth
anniversary as a pastor, or their tenth anniversary as a new congregation, do
so largely because they have developed the disciplines necessary to “Finding
Your Traction.”
External Causes
for Wheel-Spinning: Feeding Off of Fragile Fellowships
When successful, the
transition into this third stage results in “Finding Your Traction.” Where
unsuccessful, the ministry of a parish pastor or the continued congregating of
a newly-established ecclesiastical franchise begins to resemble any mighty
American muscle car immobilized by mud and simply “Spinning Your Wheels.”
But in the usual responsibilities
of a pastor toward their congregation, or of a church-plant toward the
community whose needs they decided were unmet by previously existing
congregations, the wheel-spinning is often a result of smaller, solo-pastorate
congregations becoming “feeder-churches.” Some of us trained during the early
days of the church-growth movement were actually encouraged to ensure that our
churches became the ministries feeding off of the results of ministries in
these smaller churches.
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| It's a long road, and it leads through rough territory. |
In hopes of provoking
prayerful consideration by friends who know no other paradigm than the past
thirty years of “bigger-is-better” ecclesiology, I dare to call this phenomenon
the church-growth movement’s multi-staff metastasis. This spreading cancer
routinely drains actively-involved Christians from their engagement as devoted disciples
in a local body of Christ, collecting them into a cesspool of spectators
gathered for pious performances in emporiums of religious goods and services.
There, the swelling ranks of paid professionals evaluate and report their
success by estimating the crowd of “average Christians” attending their events
and programs.
In this way, disciples
once devoted to one another in their mutual service in the communities to which
Christ calls them can sometimes barely remember how they once seemed satisfied
in “such a small, unsuccessful church.” Meanwhile, the spectacle presented by
“high quality professionals” distracts them from regretting their new role as
mere donors. The sycophantic symbiosis of mutual self-congratulation lets
attendees admire their “ministers” who, in turn, attend to whatever the
attendees most admire. Those on stage serve those who gather; those who gather
serve those who perform. And those outside the happy pairing of actors and
audience (that would be, in my estimation, the community to which Christ calls
us in service, and often even the Christ that calls us as well), enter the
equation less and less often.
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| Count the blessings of smooth roads, and keep running... |
Internal Causes
for Wheel-Spinning: The Failures of Feeder Churches
This third stage of
ministry development requires similar skills of pastors within the
congregations they serve, and recently-planted churches within the communities
they serve. When either has overcome the firefighting (see the “Putting Out
Fires” post) and plate-spinning (see the “Spinning the Plates” post), the
relative stability of wheel-spinning may actually be attractive. Though the
scenery never changes because there is no forward progress being made, the
engine still makes a lovely sound, and the passengers are never jarred by bumps
in the road. And yet, the tenuous balance between patience and boredom is
rarely sustainable, even where there seems to be an unlimited supply of fuel (a
consistent influx of new residence to the church’s service area, for example) to
keep the wheels whirling.
Finding your traction
means first overcoming the frustrations and fatigue of realizing the absence of
active servants who were once among your beloved fellow-believers, but having
departed (silently, for the most part) for greener, and passive pastures. Finding
your traction means developing a pattern of preparing new participants to fill
the vacancies voided by what will always seem like disloyal defectors. And
finding your traction means evaluating success by the actual ministry being
accomplished in the communities to which Christ has called us, rather than in
the stability of a particular roster of Christian servants. Few and rare are
those who refuse to be seduced by the simpler, easier, more exciting, or less
time-consuming options offered elsewhere.
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| ...and on into the night. |
Where We Go to
Find Our Traction
Remember that we are
considering congregations that have reached their tenth anniversary, and
pastors who have served more than five years in their current position. Only
those who have surpassed the firefighting and plate-spinning stages have built
the equity necessary to accommodate a more definitive approach to proclaiming
“this is who we are.” And that is where the traction is to be found, whether it
is a congregation that has become established, or whether it is an individual
Christian servant who has become incorporated into the congregation being
pastored.
A strong sense of
vision and mission in service to Christ and others will not eliminate
sheep-stealing poachers from offering a more comfortable Christian experience
to even those who strongly support the current purposes being served by a given
congregation. But the statement “this is who we are” assumes that the loyalty
of members within a local body of Christ transcends the tasks and structures of
particular ministry activities. The congregation’s vision and mission evolves together as certain needs are met and
other needs arise. The consistent focus on Christ’s calling to serve together
in His purposes also sustains the movement forward, despite the addition and
subtraction of individual members of the body. New gifts and talents expand the
congregation’s abilities; what appear to be losses may serve to refine and
refocus the congregation’s areas of service.
What Lies Ahead
Are there further
stages of ministry for pastors and recently-planted congregations? Probably so.
But while my tenure at The Glenburn Community Church has allowed me to
recognize where I go in finding my traction here, my two experiences in
church-planting ended with the dissolving of each congregation before their
tenth anniversary. (Again, I have seen some reach the third stage in their
ministries sooner or later than the averages. But both of those in which I
served failed due to the fatigue of their primary plate-spinners.)
Is there a fourth
stage of ministry beyond what appears to me to be the ultimate maturity of this
third stage? Yes, I believe there is. For congregations, perhaps the fourth
stage involves the eventual evolution beyond being led by their founding
pastor. For pastors, it may involve the eventual adjustments and accommodations
to injury, illness, or infirmity, where mere delegation (to and with those who
share in developing and implementing vision and mission) must give way to the
outcomes of true discipleship. There comes a day when one’s calling shifts to
passing the torch either as a consultant, or decedent.
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