Sticky Teams: Selected Quotes (Chapter Six)

Two things run through my head when I read the title of this chapter, "Clarifying the Pastor's Role"

1. Mmmm... butter.
2. Well, duh, they're the pastor.

Larry has a bit more to say than that:

• Pastors who don't lead, can't lead, or aren't allowed to lead seldom see their church break through growth barriers.
• More often it indicates that they see the pastor as an outsider. And no one who cares a lick about their church is going to hand it over to an outsider.
• Until everyone is convinced that the pastor is as committed to the church's long-term health as they are, they'll tend to resist strong leadership, especially when it threatens to take them in a new direction.
• Even if the founding pastor or a new pastor believes that God has called him to have a long-term commitment, that doesn't mean much if nobody believes it. And many won't, for good reason. Their past experiences tell them not to.
• The pastor can't be a Jekyll-&-Hyde leader, someone who abdicates leadership and then jumps in to micromanage. That guarantees confusion, frustration, and often some rather creative forms of passive aggression.
• I always present first drafts, not final proposals. By this, I don't mean that I offer half-baked ideas or suggestions off the top of my head. My first drafts are carefully thought out and persuasively presented. But I don't confuse them with God's final revealed will. That's something the board, staff, and I will determine together.
• I've found that strong & gifted leaders often confuse leadership with infallibility.
• If I hadn't previously submitted to their decisions that I didn't agree with, there's no way they would have listened to me when I played the "God told me" card. It would have been seen as just another creative ploy to get my own way.