Shared leadership in congregations

Shared leadership
in congregations

By Dan Rogers
Superintendent of U.S. ministers

Leadership in the Worldwide Church of God rests on a foundation of several biblical leadership principles. One of these is shared leadership. As noted in the WCG-USA Church Administration Manual (refer to Chapter Four), shared leadership “is team-based in structure and collegial in tone where all the leadership gifts in the church are honored and used in ways that foster interdependence.”

To implement shared leadership, the manual calls for the formation of specific leadership teams within each of our congregations. In this article I describe the function of these teams in a variety of congregational circumstances.

Questions about the formation and operation of these teams may be directed to your district superintendent. The Church Administration Manual should be consulted for additional details (the manual is available in each congregation’s library and is posted on the WCG website at http://www.wcg.org/lit/ church/manual/).

Pastoral leadership teams

Most of our congregations have one or more elders who are appointed by the denomination through ordination. Some elders are then licensed by the denomination to serve as pastors within their congregation—one as the senior (lead) pastor and others as associate or assistant pastors. Together, these pastors form what we refer to as the congregation’s pastoral leadership team. The team shares pastoral leadership of the congregation and is led by the senior pastor.

Team-based pastoral leadership within our congregations is new for many of us because most of our congregations have only one pastor. But our goal is to see, over time, the formation of pastoral leadership teams in most congregations, with the senior pastor working together with multiple associate or assistant pastors.

We are making positive strides in this direction by licensing some of our elders to serve as associate and assistant pastors. More progress will come over time, and patience is needed, for as Paul admonished Timothy, we must not “be hasty in laying on of hands” (1 Tim. 5:22) to appoint elders.

As our congregations develop by emphasizing the ministry of all believers in living out Jesus’ disciplemaking strategy for the church, new workers will emerge, and out of this pool of workers new leaders will arise—leaders gifted by the Holy Spirit for pastoral leadership. Some of these will be appointed by the church to serve as elders who will be licensed to serve as pastors on a pastoral leadership team.

The primary focus of the pastoral leadership team is the spiritual oversight of the congregation. Specific responsibilities include vision casting and communication, monitoring of the spiritual well-being of the congregation, oversight of the content of the teaching within the congregation (with much, though certainly not all, of that teaching being provided by the pastors), and administration of church governance within the congregation, including church discipline should that become necessary (note: the processes for such discipline are defined in Chapter Eight of the Church Administration Manual).

Though there is to be mutual submission and accountability among the members of the pastoral leadership team, the team is directed by the senior pastor, who has principal spiritual oversight of all matters within the congregation. Though team-based shared leadership calls for mutual accountability among all team members, for purposes of primary supervision and accountability, the senior pastor reports to his district superintendent and any associate or assistant pastors report to their senior pastor. In some larger congregations, the senior pastor may have an assistant pastor report directly to an associate pastor.

In a few congregations, no elder is licensed to serve as senior pastor. Pastoral leadership in such cases is provided by a pastoral leadership team that is comprised not of licensed elders, but of other leading members (including ministry leaders and non-licensed elders).

As noted in the Church Administration Manual, the district superintendent appoints this team with input from the congregation. The team remains in place until an elder can be licensed to serve as the congregation’s senior pastor. The team’s leader, who may be male or female, is referred to as the pastoral team leader and serves as the primary point of contact between the congregation and the district superintendent.

Advisory council

Within each congregation (with limited exceptions—see below), an advisory council is appointed by the senior pastor to offer ongoing advice and counsel to the pastoral leadership team (or to the senior pastor if no team is present). The Church Administration Manual describes in detail how the advisory council is appointed—a couple of options are given, both involving all members in the selection process.

The primary reason for having an advisory council is to provide the congregation’s pastoral leadership team with ongoing, meaningful input from other members. One of the characteristics of leaders is that they see life through the eyeglasses of a leader—indeed, that is how God has gifted them. Knowing this to be true, wise pastoral leaders actively and consistently seek input from others who see life and ministry from a different perspective.

The members of the advisory council are therefore active members of the congregation who bring to the table other backgrounds, perspectives and gifts than those of the pastors. Advisory council members might include non-licensed elders (elders not serving as pastors) and some ministry leaders, but most of the members of the advisory council should be members who are not in primary leadership roles but do possess spiritual maturity and the gifts of wisdom and discernment. Advisory council members must also be willing and able to verbally express wise counsel to the pastoral team.

When the advisory council meets, it generally assembles with the pastoral leadership team (which in some of our congregations means meeting with the one pastor—but remember, our goal is to have a team of pastors in each congregation). The senior pastor might chair the advisory council meeting, but another pastor or a member of the advisory council might serve as chair.

How advisory council meetings are structured is at local discretion—one of the first topics for the council to discuss is how to conduct its meetings. The council will need to determine how it will arrive at a consensus position that will then be offered to the pastoral leadership team as the collective advice and counsel of the group. In that regard, some advisory councils vote in order to arrive at consensus, while others simply like to pray through an issue until a consensus position emerges. The district superintendent can provide coaching concerning how to conduct these meetings.

A question that often arises is what is the pastoral leadership team (or the senior pastor if there is no team of pastors) to do with the advice offered by the advisory council? First, please understand that the advisory council is an advisory group, not a board established to govern the congregation.

That being said, the role of the advisory council is essential to the appropriate operation of the congregation in accord with the principle of shared, team-based leadership. And so it is our expectation that the pastor(s) will carefully weigh the advice offered by the advisory council in formulating policies and setting goals with respect to the defined spiritual oversight responsibilities of the pastoral leadership team noted above and defined in greater detail in the Church Administration Manual.

To facilitate the giving of this advice and counsel, the advisory council is to meet often with the pastoral leadership team (we recommend monthly, but such meetings must be at least quarterly). The frequency of such meetings will depend, in part, on the degree of change occurring in the congregation. The more change, the more frequent the meetings.

In congregations that have no senior pastor (and thus are led by a pastoral leadership team made up of ministry leaders and others), the requirement to have an advisory council is waived. This is the case because the pastoral leadership team in such cases provides pastoral leadership and fills the role of the advisory council. The requirement to have an advisory council is also waived in small group churches (a technical term for certain small, non-chartered congregations—refer to the Church Administration Manual for details).

Finance committee

Each congregation is to have a finance committee that is a specialized leadership team with responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the financial system of the congregation. The details of that system and of the responsibilities of the finance committee are set forth in the Financial Management Manual. This manual is now operational as congregations move into the new financial model.

The finance committee includes, at minimum, a treasurer, head usher and one at-large member (some congregations will also have a financial secretary). The treasurer is typically the committee’s leader, though this appointment may vary at local discretion. The finance committee is accountable directly to the senior pastor (or other pastor at the senior pastor’s discretion, or to the pastoral team leader where there is no senior pastor) and works in cooperation with the pastoral leadership team, the advisory council and the ministry leadership team.

Ministry leadership team

The ministry leadership team is made up of the commissioned ministry leaders who direct the ministry teams serving in the individual ministries (ministry segments) within the congregation.

Examples of ministry segments include worship ministry, hospitality ministry, children’s ministry, teen ministry, women’s ministry, men’s ministry, facilities ministry and prayer ministry. Approaches to organizing and naming ministry segments vary from congregation to congregation, but our goal is that each segment will have a team that works together to provide balanced disciplemaking ministry.

By “balanced disciplemaking ministry,” we mean ministry that attends to the full scope of Jesus’ disciplemaking strategy: winning nonbelievers to Christ, building believers in their love for Christ, equipping believers to be effective workers in Christ’s disciplemaking mission, and multiplying leaders to be servant-leaders with Christ in that mission.

As explained in the Church Administration Manual, ministry leaders are appointed to their office of leadership in a congregation through commissioning (note that some congregations, at local discretion, refer to their ministry leaders as deacons).

Ministry leaders are members in good standing who are proven workers with the gifts needed for their area of service. Each ministry segment usually has one principal ministry leader, but that leader shares responsibility with his or her team of ministry workers so that leadership is shared and new ministry leaders are being multiplied.

The ministry leaders (who together form the ministry leadership team) report directly to the senior pastor (or at his discretion to another pastor), or to the pastoral team leader where there is no senior pastor. The senior pastor (often together with the entire pastoral leadership team) will frequently conduct meetings with the ministry leadership team to discuss vision, values, strategy and ministry operations. Other key leaders in the congregation (such as the treasurer and the advisory council) might be invited to these meetings depending on the topics being discussed.

It is not uncommon for one of the pastors (licensed elders) to serve as a ministry leader—thus wearing two leadership hats. For example, a senior pastor might lead the worship ministry. Or an assistant pastor might lead the hospitality ministry. Doing double duty is often necessary and works well so long as the individual understands the distinctions between role responsibilities.

Conclusion

Primary leadership in our congregations is provided through the important work of the pastors (the elders who are licensed to serve as senior, associate or assistant pastors), and the ministry leaders. This dual focus expresses the biblical division of primary leadership between elders (sometimes referred to in Scripture as overseers, bishops or pastors) and deacons (which we refer to as ministry leaders).

In addition to pastors and ministry leaders, our congregations also have specialized leaders, including members of the advisory council and the finance committee. Our desire is that all these leaders work together as a team of servant-leaders, clearly focused on our goal to be great commandment—great commission congregations, all to the glory of God.

My thanks to our leaders and members for their loving devotion to Jesus Christ, to his church and to his disciplemaking mission. May we make disciples who make disciples.

Summary of the primary leadership offices
in the WCG-USA congregations

Refer to the WCG-USA Church Administration Manual
for detailed descriptions of these leadership offices

Pastoral leadership team. A team of pastors (senior pastor plus any associate or assistant pastors) in a congregation. The team is led by the senior pastor and works together to provide pastoral (spiritual oversight) leadership in the congregation. Where a congregation has no senior pastor, this team is made up of ministry leaders and other leading members who, together, fill the role of senior pastor.

Senior pastor. The lead pastor in a congregation. He reports directly to the district superintendent and works collaboratively on a pastoral leadership team with other (associate or assistant) pastors in the congregation.

Associate pastor. A pastor in a congregation who shares most of the responsibilities of the senior pastor—often filling in for the senior pastor at the opposite end of a multi-congregation church circuit. He reports directly to the senior pastor.

Assistant pastor. A pastor assigned to fill a limited but substantial spiritual oversight responsibility within the congregation. He reports directly to the senior pastor or to an associate pastor.

Licensed elder. A man who has been ordained as an elder and then licensed to serve in spiritual oversight leadership within the church, most often as one of the pastors in a congregation. All pastors are licensed elders.

Non-licensed elder. A man who has been ordained as an elder but is not licensed to serve as a pastor or in another licensed elder role. Non-licensed elders may perform various duties of an elder under the direct supervision of a licensed elder.

Advisory council. A group of members who are appointed to provide ongoing advice and counsel to the pastoral leadership team in the congregation (or to the senior pastor if there is no pastoral leadership team).

Ministry leadership team. A team made up of the ministry leaders within a congregation.

Ministry leader. A member who is commissioned by the senior pastor to lead an individual ministry within the congregation.

Finance committee. A group of members appointed by the senior pastor to serve as the primary managers of the congregation’s financial management system. The committee includes the congregation’s treasurer, head usher and at least one general member. The committee reports directly to the senior pastor.

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