How To Start Well As A New Pastor
by Fred Oaks
When you arrive as a new pastor, members of your church invest enormous energy in welcoming you. They spruce up the facilities, host receptions, and organize get-acquainted activities. They make a concerted effort to bless and impress you. You likewise try to make a great first impression. You may diet off extra weight, buy new clothes, and devote special care to those first worship services. You and your church members do these things because you sense that start-up is crucial. Your hopes for this new relationship rise higher than a steeple. Beneath every steeple, however, is a supporting foundation.
A healthy start-up lays a foundation for a pastor-congregation partnership that starts strong and endures. As a new pastor, you should take the lead in this process. Sometime in the first year, commit yourself to a 40-day season of prayer. Invite the whole congregation to join you. As a reader of Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox, you are certainly familiar with 40 Days campaigns. They are especially appropriate for new pastors because it’s how Jesus started in ministry.
After he was baptized, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he remained for 40 days (Matt. 4:1-11). A 40-day season of prayer involving the whole congregation is a wonderful way to begin. After all, what results can you expect if you rush into the tasks of ministry without building relationships with God and one another? Adrenaline is a poor substitute for the leading of the Holy Spirit. If the Son of God needed to pray for 40 days before launching his ministry, how much more do you?
Your start up process should include Scripture-based devotions and dialogue meetings. The devotional material trains people to listen to God. The dialogue meetings train people to listen to one another. (Do not assume that they already know how to do either of these things well.) Deep listening to God and one another builds a strong pastor-congregation partnership. Church members are knit together in love (Col. 2:2) and united by shared mission (Eph. 4:3). This is a foundation that can support growth. It is anchored to God’s eternal purpose: “For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock?” (Ps. 18:31) Foundations don’t come any stronger!
To build an enduring, resilient pastor-congregation partnership, master the four challenges of successful start up. All of them concern relationships with God and people. When those relationships are good, ministry is focused and effective. When they are poor, even zealous efforts yield paltry results. Don’t leave this to chance! Tackle the challenges directly with help from as many church members as you can recruit. The number of people willing to participate may surprise you.
1. Get to know one another by sharing love and laughter, hopes and hurts.
Resist the impulse to ‘jump in and get busy.’ Sure, you are excited about the opportunities in your new setting. You want to prove that you are a hard worker. Members of your congregation are eager to get busy on projects that have been begging for attention. But if your church calendar is stuck on spin cycle, unplug it. Take time to make unhurried, genuine personal connections. Make relationships a priority from day one. This says, “I value you, not simply for what you can do, nor only for what we can do together. I value you for who you are.” Isn’t this a reflection of God’s love for us?
2. Share faith honestly and authentically.
As a preacher, you testify regularly to your faith in Christ. But do you invite church members to share their faith with you? Look for opportunities to ask them to explain the hope that’s in them (1 Peter 3:15). You don’t have to push them in front of a crowd with a microphone on their chin. Just find a private moment to ask, “Will you please tell me how you first became involved in this ministry? What keeps you going?” Get to know and understand your people’s beliefs about God. Invite them to tell you how they came to faith in Jesus Christ. Ask them about the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and what motivates them in Christian service. When you connect with people at this intimate spiritual level, bonds develop. You also become better able to appreciate and care for them.
3. Discern what God expects of you as pastor and people.
God brought you together as pastor and congregation. Aren’t you curious about what God has in mind for your ministry partnership? God knows you best and sees vast potential in your cooperation. Use the start-up phase to search the Scriptures and pray together about this. Discern God’s hopes and expectations. Pray that God will show you how your one-of-a-kind partnership can advance the great cause of God’s ongoing work in the world. To accomplish God-sized goals, you’ll need to depend on God’s power and resources. Answer the question Jesus put to Bartimaeus: “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51)
4. Speak openly about differences in order to handle them constructively.
Rick Warren counsels pastors, “When conflict comes up, you have to deal with it head on” (Ministry Toolbox #234). He’s right, but when you are new to a congregation, this feels difficult. During the honeymoon phase, doubts are suspended, goodwill abounds, and everyone seems determined to get along. Often there is pressure to avoid difficult subjects – and the greater the differences, the greater the pressure. These disagreements may or may not involve you directly. The issues may be new or old. Either way, you may reason, “I don’t want to rain on this parade. I’m just going to ignore this, put it aside for now to avoid unpleasantness.” This is a mistake. Avoiding any discussion of differences does nothing to resolve them. In fact, it actually becomes more difficult to deal with the issue in the long run. You will not be able to resolve all issues immediately, but at least you can acknowledge them. Differences supply energy for progress. They are an invitation to learn. You demonstrate leadership when you acknowledge them and seek to use them constructively.
As a new pastor, you have one “YES” from every member. Tap into the positive spiritual energy of start-up. Channel it into a season of prayer. Teach people how to listen well to God and each other, and brace yourself for adventure.