WHAT'S YOUR ROLE WITH THE BOARD
Is the pastor the board's chaplain, leader, or employee?
Larry W. Osborne
July 1, 1989
Five years ago LEADERSHIP asked its readers, "What topics would you be most interested in reading a book about?" Nearly every answer-helping those who don't want help, for example, or crisis marriage counseling-has led to a volume in THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY.
This fall, THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY concludes with a topic that two-thirds of our readers asked about: "How can we have shorter, better board meetings? What does it take to get everyone pulling together?"
In the forthcoming book, The Unity Factor: Getting Your Church Leaders Working Together, pastor Larry Osborne offers practical, sensible help. He's learned-sometimes the hard way-how to get church leaders playing as a team, and in this excerpt he discusses the delicate prior question: What's my role with the board?
Navigating my way through unfamiliar streets, my thoughts darted between the task at hand-finding a pancake house at the edge of town-and the opportunities ahead of me as the new pastor of a small, Southern California church.
After eight years as a youth pastor and assistant pastor, I was excited by the challenge. As I pulled my Toyota into the restaurant's parking lot, I was full of ideas, energy, and enthusiasm. The chairman of our board had been in Europe while I candidated and was called, but at this pancake house we would finally have the chance to get acquainted.
After initial pleasantries, the chairman asked me what I had in mind for the church. For thirty minutes, I shared my dreams and vision.
When I finished, he leaned across the table. "Son," he said, "don't get too many fancy ideas. You just preach and pray. We'll run the church. And don't dig your roots too deep, either, because it's a good idea to move on every three or four years."
I was stunned. Based ...
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