The other day I sat down with my mind! Sometimes that can be a dangerous event!
In the midst of my pondering, I started to think about being a pastor in a church over the past decades. Let me try this out on you —
In the 1950’s – 60’s a pastor was steered by the expectation that the pastor did it all. As such, the pastor had to rush to visit people to find out what was expected. The result of this leadership style was the sense of being overwhelmed. You could never please everyone.
The 1970’s – 80’s turned to the social sciences to help understand a pastor’s role. The Church Growth movement pushed for excellence and extreme production. Church services and programs became the focus. A pastor was judged on the production of the programs.
The 1990’s and 2000’s pushed the pastor to turn inward. This was cloaked in an increase in books and literature about “leadership.” Leaders could personally test their own vision and giftedness. In the end, the corporate culture (the church) was molded to suit the pastor’s vision.
Now, these are huge generalities. In one sense all of these approaches will make for a good leader. But concentrating on only one causes imbalance. I sense that the swing is now heading back to being with the people, for the people and discerning what the people want from their leader.
Any comments?
So, in the 50’s/60’s the pastor lived with demands determined by the people. In the 70’/80’s the pastor lived with the demands determined by scientific testing. In the 90’s/2000’s the pastor lived with demands determined by themself.