Leadership Role Of The Church Essay

Having a sense of authority as ministers is important, but it also depends on how we use the authority that makes it worthwhile. The author made it clear that “A certain practical authority arises in consequence of a thorough theological education. Christians do not claim authority on the basis of academic degrees, but know that it is a result of Christ who is their life and word, (p. 65).” If this knowledge base is strong then the clergy is entitled to personal respect and practical authority implied by sound learning. Humility is very important in Ministry and should be exercised by all ministers, however ministers must also be cearful not exercise it too much as it can be misunderstood by our congregation. Another aspect that there is no question when it comes on to the statement that says pastors are human beings, it is so easy for us to get caught up in doing things for the church and community that we neglect other important details in our lives, like ourselves. It is imperative that as ministers we stop sometimes and look out for ourselves and by extension our

Atkinson (2014) believes effective leadership displays, “No person is less divine than another, and therefore no person is less than another” (p. 145). Throughout the bible, there are many people in scripture that God placed in leadership roles. Jesus, David, Moses, Paul, Peter, Abraham and many others are some of those leaders. There are core attributes discussed in the lecture that personally reflect my opinion of what an effective leader of Christ needs such as, a shared vision, model of the way, empowerment of others, challenge of the process, and encouragement of the heart.

Some of the opportunity and challenges pastor’s facNorth American pastors are challenge in a variety ways, one of the questions that helps a pastor to define his true intentions is figuring out some of the following ideas and awareness.

The Pastor is the overseer of all ministry, operating, and finance activities and works in cooperation with the Executive Team concerning these areas. The Pastor is also the main ambassador of the church to the community and is responsible for preaching, teaching, training, and upholding the church's doctrine. He or she is also responsible for counseling, comforting, and ensuring that the spiritual needs of the people are met. Moreover, the Pastor administers (or oversees the administration of) ordinances of communion and baptism as well as weddings and funerals (along with his/her associate ministers). Although the Senior Pastor is primarily responsible for these things, he/she may designate others to serve in these areas as necessary. There are two roles that cannot be delegated. First, the Pastor must nurture his or her relationship with God through consistent prayer (Luke 6:12 and Mark 1:35); failure to do so will negatively affect the church. Second, the

According to Bill Hull, “While certain pockets of evangelicalism have grown, overall, the church is in a decline. Many congregations can attest to Hull’s assessment, in that, churches in America are indeed experiencing sharp declines in its numbers of baptisms and church attendance. Over

Leadership starts at the top, and the top is not the man, but the faith in God that flows out of him. There is, different types of leadership and many ways to display this quality. God is our ultimate leader, and He revealed ways on how to be an effective leader in the church, in the house and in life. Therefore, the focus of this paper will be the Pastor epistles and the type of leadership model that they share and put forth. Now, effective ways of leadership may manifest differently in each individual. God made us all unique and gave each of us a specific talent or gift. Therefore, this class has made me investigate and look at myself more in depth and see what type of leadership model I would follow, and feel is the best model.

Paul’s guidance on the standards of these roles should not be taken lightly; as one should be called to have a leadership role in the church. The governmental structure in the Bible is like a pyramid with the Pastor as the head and the elders beneath him. The pastor’s role according to scriptures is similar to the role of the elder and that is to care for and feed God’s flock (Ephesians 4:1). The New Testament only refers to the pastor’s role one time; which we can conclude that the pastor and elder in a Biblical sense are one in the same. In Calvin’s Draft Ecclesiastical Ordinances, there are four orders of office instituted by the Lord for government of the church: pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons. The pastor’s role in the Draft Ecclesiastical Ordinances is similar to the Bible. Its role is to, “proclaim the Word of God, to admonish, exhort and censure, both in public and private, to administer the sacraments, and to enjoin in brotherly corrections along with the elders and colleagues.” Doctors of the Ecclesiastical Draft role is to instruct, teach, and lecture on true doctrine. There is no mentioning of doctor’s role in the Bible and the Presbytery Book of

Referring to Dr. Laniak’s book, he concentrated on the three roles of shepherding – provision, protection, and guidance. I think these three roles should still be the central focuses for the Christian leaders today. However, it is also true that the concept of shepherding leadership becomes vague and sentimental sometimes; as a result, we see leaders have too much power and responsibility in today’s churches. In fact, this situation happens not only in the present, but also in all history. We can find complaining leaders in the Mosaic period; we can find leaders who did whatever they liked in the period of Judges; we see kings who did evil in the sigh of the Lord; we see arguments within the group of leadership in the early church; we see the

Leadership is the ability of a person to influence people toward the attainment of a particular goal. Leadership is a people activity, not like administrative paper shuffling or problem solving. It is a dynamic force and involves the use of power. Out of the forces of leadership come four powerful characteristics: supportive, directive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership. Although these types of characteristics are not considered ingrained personality traits, they reflect types of behavior every leader is able to adopt depending on the situation.

The leadership of the churches in Paul’s writings and in the section of the Book of Acts dealing with Paul consists of various categories involving the questions of age, gender, and maturity, as well as diversity of function. The fullest list of leadership categories in the Pauline corpus is given in Ephesians 4:11, where he lists apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

Essentially, the church should focus on both leadership and discipleship from within the church. According to Putman, “our churches are filled with diamonds in the rough, and when pastors and church leaders begin to take seriously our mandate to disciple our people, these leaders will emerge”. Putman refers to the

Willimon explains that “all of the pastor’s sheepherding takes its purpose and content from the pastor’s leadership of worship.” Willimon indicates several points in which I agree with and a few that I struggle with. As a pastor, we assume a responsibility for the people who attend the church. With that responsibility, we also are responsible “to God for the flock.” That responsibility is not to be taken lightly. It is through the worship that pastors have an incredible opportunity to tough the life of many souls. Although it is viewed by many as the pastor touching the souls; it is truly God touching the souls and utilizing the pastor as the vehicle.

Nations crumble, churches and business fail, families become dysfunctional, children lose their way, and men stray from God for one disturbing reason; lack of leadership. These failures are often because of the lack of instruction, proper leadership, and confusion over what Christian leadership is and how that leadership is applicable to every facet of business and personal life.

This ministry context will focus on church leaders in positions such as youth pastor and Sunday school teacher. These ministries aim to provide leadership, encouragement, and training to young people of all ages. Church leaders are placed in position because of their wisdom, restraint, and qualifications. They are supposed to be in position as models for others in the local church.

It is also important for a pastor to help develop people and then release them to become who God created them to be. When a mother and father have children, they invest many years of blood,