~821 words - >4 minutes
This post begins a new 12-part (at least) series on Memos to Pathbreaker Pastors.
What is a “Pathbreaker Pastor?”
As a youth in the Boy Scouts, we helped a fellow scout with a project of building trails in some forest land that had been formerly off-limits in a military base. When parts were granted to the local city, they desired to have some trails for recreation. Admittedly, I did the grunt work on the project with other scouts.
But the work was more involved than many would think.
There were no paths, and the routes needed to be carefully plotted, giving the right balance between ease and difficulty. The pathways needed to provide some interesting views and vistas. To ford streams or ditches, we had to build bridges. We needed to make the trail wide enough for several people. We had to clear the undergrowth and bushes, with the occasional dead tree being removed.
Some limbs and trees were used to shore up the lower side of the path to prevent erosion, and shovels and sore backs were applied to fill and pack dirt to level the path in places. Finally, we needed to place blaze markers along the route so that others could stay on the path to enjoy them.
Image by FOTOR Pro
In short, we were breaking the new way through this forest so others could benefit.
This analogy fits well with the pastors I have been privileged to serve.
Let us all confess that apart from God, we can do nothing. We join with God to accomplish God's purposes for the people. Our privilege is to be the leader for a short time.
Many leaders I serve are church founders or planters who now have long tenures at the church. Everyone who is a part of the church came while this person was the leader. These attendees have fallen into steps along the path with the leader.
For those who are not the founder, many have served long enough and seen such significant growth in the number of people being served that up to 85% of the people cannot remember a prior pastor.
Some of these will tell me admittedly that “I waited the buggers out” in the early years before feeling the freedom to help the church in blazing new paths.
So that you know, the average tenure of a Senior?Lead Pastor of churches I served last year was 24.3 years at the church. I serve these long-term leaders with my Senior Pastor Smart Succession Process.
I do believe that God blesses longevity in pastoring. That is not to say that shorter-term pastors cannot be effective in leading a church as well, but I think it serves a church well to have a long-serving pastor leader at the helm.
But when these pathbreaker pastors look back over their tenure, they will see how they had to shift the direction of the church with due care at each stage and seasonal turn.
That often meant doing the “trail building work” as described above. The larger the church grew, the more challenging and intentional the process became.
Charles Handy, a management philosopher from the UK, wrote that he was lucky to be married three times, all to the same woman.*
In using this illustration, he described how, at each phase of their marriage, they had to renegotiate their lives to fit productively together.
I think the same is true of lead pastors of larger churches. If one stays over time, the leader and the church should renegotiate the role in the partnership for each new season of the church’s life.
This also helps explain why when the church is looking for a successor to the current leader, it does not start in the place it did when the current leader came.
One of my mentors, Lyle Schaller, used to say the keyword for leadership is “intentionality.” Pathbreaker Pastors have a strong sense of intentionality in their directions and actions. They haven’t merely fallen into successful patterns. They have outlined a path forward and helped the team build that path for others to utilize.
Finally, a word on culture – the church’s current leadership and followership culture has flowed from the pathbreaker pastor. One can no longer blame a predecessor if it is a negative culture. Pathbreaker pastors know they have shaped the behaviors and attitudes of the team and must own the responsibilities of establishing health in that way. If there are negative aspects to the culture, the responsibility of correction also falls to the leader.
In short – Pathbreaker Pastors are viewed by understanding leaders. They would say: “We are a totally different church from when this pastor arrived.”
In almost every case in my consulting, that would describe the pastor and the church I serve with my consulting practice.
Takeaways for readers:
In what ways have you been a Pathbreaking Pastor?
What describes the “three churches” you have pastored, even though it could be the same congregation?
How will you help construct the path the next leader can walk on?
Editors Note: * Charles Handy is still alive in his 90s. The son of an Irish Pastor, he had an interesting career as an economist, teacher, and warden for St. George’s House at Windsor Castle. (If you have seen The Crown, there are a few scenes with a character similar to him about St. George’s.) His writings influenced managers a few decades ago and are still broadly relevant. While younger than Peter Drucker, many considered him alongside him. Unfortunately, his wife died in a car accident in 2018.
I greatly benefitted from reading his works in the 1990s.
Book Announcement!
The copies of 33 Basic Statements on Senior Pastor Succession are rolling off the production line and into the shipping department now.
This 30 minutes read is available to US readers that ask for one.
Send your information to Linda.Stanley@generis.com to get your copy today.