Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

More than 80 percent of all church pastors should resign if …

OpinionGeorge Bullard  |  November 4, 2016

George BullardThe commonly accepted criteria for pastors’ leadership is that they bring a great vision with them when they become leader of a congregation, they know how to get people to follow their vision, and the results are a numerically growing, spiritually vibrant and missionally significant congregation.

If all these things are not true for pastors, then all flawed pastors should resign. This could mean 80 percent or more of pastors need to resign.

The commonly accepted criteria is the standard

But what if this is not the criteria for a successful and significant pastorate? What if there is a different way to look at the issue of vision in congregations?

If you believe this is not the commonly accepted criteria for a successful and significant pastorate, then you do not read the articles I read — some of which claim a deep research base for what they are saying. You do not listen to the pastor search committees or staff parish relations committees with which I talk. You do not talk to the laypersons in congregations who are convinced if they had the right pastor with clear vision and decisive leadership their church would grow.

This standard is consistent. First, the articles I read say 20 percent or less of all senior or solo pastors truly get it about their role as the primary source, chief vision caster, and manager of the actions that make vision come alive in congregations.

Second, the assumption of many committees is that senior or solo pastors bring vision with them to congregational leadership, or the pastor is not a leader.

Third, many people in congregations expect their pastor have a clear vision for the future of the church, or the pastor is the wrong pastor and they need to look for another leader.

If this standard regarding pastors and vision is correct, then 80 percent of all pastors were not intended to be pastors. They misunderstood the voice of God speaking into their lives. They should consider another way to live out their ministry.

When the 80 percent of pastors attend conferences where they are told they are the key source of vision, they feel guilty and inadequate. When reading a book by a highly successful pastor who brags about having a dynamic and empowering vision for their congregation, they feel ashamed. When talking with a pastor search committee or a staff parish relations committee, they develop an elevator speech that provides a spin around vision that sells their leadership prowess in a positive way.

They do all this because they believe this viewpoint about vision is true. But is a terrible lie.

The terrible lie exposed

I personally agree this commonly accepted criteria or standard is a terrible lie that allows congregations to avoid their responsibility to be captured by God empowering vision. It also heaps guilt on the 80 percent of all pastors who do not get it about vision in the traditional way it is promoted by our success-oriented church and denominational culture in North America.

I contend our Triune God is the only appropriate source of vision for congregations — not pastors. God has an empowering vision for every congregation which they must discern and act on.

However, it is my hope the pastor is among the first — if not the very first person — in congregations to be captured by God’s empowering vision. They can then use their preaching, teaching, leadership and interpersonal relationships, as well as their own missional engagement, to cast vision.

I believe if the pastor, plus staff and laypersons equal to at least 21 percent of the average number of adults present on a typical weekend for worship, are not also captured by God’s vision, the congregation does not have vision.

Vision cannot happen by the pastor pushing the congregation forward. It can only happen because the congregation allows God to pull them forward.

God calls people to be pastors who have various gifts and skills. God does not call only pastors who get vision in the traditional ways our society says leaders get vision.

Congregations must discern God’s vision for them, own it deeply, and act on it passionately. In this process, pastors are not called on to be the source, crafter, or owner of congregational vision. Pastors are called on to continually hold up God’s empowering vision, cast it before the congregation, and be an example of vision fulfillment in word and deed.

Is it possible that a 100 percent of pastors can do this if we unchain them from the vocational prison that says pastors — rather than God — are the source of vision?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:church healthchurch visionclergyministerpastorleadershipChurch Leadershippastor leadershipGeorge Bullardchurch growth
More by
George Bullard
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • What churches could learn from the Pub Choir phenomenon

      Opinion

    • What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers

      News

    • Trial date set for Patterson and Southwestern versus Jane Roe

      News

    • Southwestern Seminary student arrested for alleged ‘felony sexual assault’

      News


    Curated

    • It shouldn’t seem so surprising when the pope says being gay ‘isn’t a crime’ – a Catholic theologian explains

      It shouldn’t seem so surprising when the pope says being gay ‘isn’t a crime’ – a Catholic theologian explains

    • USCCB official: The church must admit its role in destroying Native American culture

      USCCB official: The church must admit its role in destroying Native American culture

    • House bill would limit government authority over religious events

      House bill would limit government authority over religious events

    • ‘He Gets Us’ organizers hope to spend $1 billion to promote Jesus. Will anyone care?

      ‘He Gets Us’ organizers hope to spend $1 billion to promote Jesus. Will anyone care?

    Read Next:

    Members of Florida church required to sign ‘biblical sexuality’ statement or be removed from membership

    NewsMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • The church must show the world a more excellent way of nonviolence

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Museum of the Bible to host Wednesday morning event to pray for God’s judgment on America, and breakfast is not included

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • National Prayer Breakfast gets new sponsorship but still looks like government-sponsored religion, BJC leaders say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • del Toro’s Pinocchio is a tale of faith that is not wooden

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • Zimbabwe Theological Seminary names new principal

      NewsBNG staff

    • What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Church historian Richard Hughes reflects on a lifetime of ‘Troublesome Questions’

      OpinionTed Parks

    • Reverend Roboto: Artificial intelligence and pastoral care

      AnalysisKristen Thomason

    • What churches could learn from the Pub Choir phenomenon

      OpinionMike Frost

    • Southwestern Seminary student arrested for alleged ‘felony sexual assault’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Trial date set for Patterson and Southwestern versus Jane Roe

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Living into lament: A white response to the killing of Tyre Nichols by police

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Faith groups must fight online hate, Interfaith Alliance urges

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Of church cemeteries, pulpit committees, crafts and sweet potato casserole

      OpinionChris Ayers

    • Colorado cake maker back in court, this time for refusing service to a transgender woman

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Of Margie, mountains and ‘El Shaddai’

      OpinionBert Montgomery

    • For every critic of Jesus and John Wayne there are many more positive responses Du Mez says

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What I learned from meeting Martin Luther King in Louisville and Josie in Hopkinsville

      OpinionBill Thurman

    • Bob Banks, longtime SBC missions leader, dies at 91

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • On the baptism of our firstborn

      OpinionEmily Hull McGee

    • Members of Florida church required to sign ‘biblical sexuality’ statement or be removed from membership

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Eight months later, there’s renewed interest in Adam Hamilton’s video on why he’ll remain a United Methodist

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Life post-Roe: Is there middle ground between religious liberty and medical freedom?

      AnalysisMallory Challis

    • Has virtual worship actually harmed Christianity?

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • 165 religious leaders plead with White House to abandon immigrant travel ban

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Museum of the Bible to host Wednesday morning event to pray for God’s judgment on America, and breakfast is not included

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • National Prayer Breakfast gets new sponsorship but still looks like government-sponsored religion, BJC leaders say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Zimbabwe Theological Seminary names new principal

      NewsBNG staff

    • What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Southwestern Seminary student arrested for alleged ‘felony sexual assault’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Trial date set for Patterson and Southwestern versus Jane Roe

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Faith groups must fight online hate, Interfaith Alliance urges

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Colorado cake maker back in court, this time for refusing service to a transgender woman

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • For every critic of Jesus and John Wayne there are many more positive responses Du Mez says

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Bob Banks, longtime SBC missions leader, dies at 91

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Members of Florida church required to sign ‘biblical sexuality’ statement or be removed from membership

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Eight months later, there’s renewed interest in Adam Hamilton’s video on why he’ll remain a United Methodist

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • 165 religious leaders plead with White House to abandon immigrant travel ban

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Knowing a church’s history on slavery can be a nudge toward redemption, historians say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Sandra and Andy Stanley: ‘We’re not perfect parents, but we’ve learned some things along the way’

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • United Methodists on alert for dissidents ‘poaching’ members and pastors

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • The other speech Martin Luther King gave at Southern Seminary in 1961

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Faith-based leaders discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of Biden’s proposed border policies

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • U.S. churches more likely to have adult and youth education programs than interfaith or ecumenical work

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Here’s Johnny! Embattled SBC pastor back in the pulpit and will headline a men’s conference

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Dan Hobbs, early leader of ABP and CBF, dies at 95

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘Public safety ecosystems’ could help replace nation’s broken criminal justice system, evangelical leaders say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Reparations should begin with recognition of human dignity, Delbanco says in 50th annual Jefferson Lecture

      NewsMallory Challis

    • Church of England won’t allow same-sex marriage but may allow a liturgical blessing of civil unions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • The church must show the world a more excellent way of nonviolence

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Church historian Richard Hughes reflects on a lifetime of ‘Troublesome Questions’

      OpinionTed Parks

    • What churches could learn from the Pub Choir phenomenon

      OpinionMike Frost

    • Living into lament: A white response to the killing of Tyre Nichols by police

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Of church cemeteries, pulpit committees, crafts and sweet potato casserole

      OpinionChris Ayers

    • Of Margie, mountains and ‘El Shaddai’

      OpinionBert Montgomery

    • What I learned from meeting Martin Luther King in Louisville and Josie in Hopkinsville

      OpinionBill Thurman

    • On the baptism of our firstborn

      OpinionEmily Hull McGee

    • Has virtual worship actually harmed Christianity?

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • ‘What can we forgive?’: An interview with Matthew Ichihashi Potts on Forgiveness

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • My father’s faith

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • The apology that never came at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Trump and his allegedly disloyal white evangelical supporters

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Doom-scrolling, sourdough starter and three kinds of kin

      OpinionJustin Cox

    • Putin needs to be taken down

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • How my eyes were opened to America’s broken immigration system

      OpinionChristian Vaughn

    • Meditating with Buddhists and other Asian lessons

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • The Black resistance tradition and its fight for U.S. democracy

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Five book recommendations on creation stewardship for 2023

      OpinionDon Gordon

    • Queen Elizabeth was a role model for women in faith and leadership

      OpinionChrystal Cowan

    • Two football coaches went up to pray …

      OpinionPatrick Wilson

    • ‘Grief brain’: The three big deficits of grief

      OpinionLaurie Taylor

    • Prayer might not be enough

      OpinionTerry Austin

    • Mending broken pieces and broken lives with kintsugi

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • When my church and I let Jesus down: Jesus in the distressing disguise of the homeless

      OpinionChris Ayers

    • It shouldn’t seem so surprising when the pope says being gay ‘isn’t a crime’ – a Catholic theologian explains

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • USCCB official: The church must admit its role in destroying Native American culture

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • House bill would limit government authority over religious events

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘He Gets Us’ organizers hope to spend $1 billion to promote Jesus. Will anyone care?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Rise of Spirit Warriors on the Christian Right

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Twitter reinstated white nationalist Nick Fuentes. He lasted 24 hours.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • In Rare Rebuke, Elaine Chao Calls Out Trump’s Anti-Asian Attacks

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Southern California helped birth white Christian nationalism

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Extreme Israeli group takes root in US with fundraising bid

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Review: Decolonizing Christianity

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Two Leaders Of The New US House Could Put Baptist Diversity In The News Spotlight

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Making Sweat Feel Spiritual Didn’t Start With SoulCycle

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • White Christian nationalism isn’t pro-life. It’s pro-order.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Stop Using the Bible to Dehumanize Transgender People | Opinion

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Martin Luther King Jr. Was A Saint, But Also Just A Man — That’s The Glory Of It

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A Houston synagogue is tightening security after a woman broke in twice, damaged a Torah and harassed children

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Islamic paintings of the Prophet Muhammad are an important piece of history – here’s why art historians teach them

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Lutherans ordain first Palestinian woman pastor in Holy Land

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • 2 States Introduce Radical Bills To Prosecute Pregnant People For Abortions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Flyers coach Tortorella defends Provorov’s Pride boycott

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘Dream bigger’: How weekend marches keep advocates’ fight for Roe v. Wade alive on 50th anniversary

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Rinse, Repeat: Should Believers Be Dunked Again?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Meet the real Jewish Republican of color being floated to replace George Santos, the fake one

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Florida Gov. DeSantis leads the GOP’s national charge against public education that includes lessons on race and sexual orientation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians Unite in Support for Apache Fight to Save Oak Flat

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2023 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS