I'm the Leader--Now What?
Leith Anderson
The pastor, as a visionary, is like an architect who intimately knows each room in the building he or she is designing long before it's actually constructed.
— Leith Anderson
It was May of 1969. I had just crammed three years of seminary into two and couldn't wait to reap the rewards of surviving my education: full-time ministry. The church I had been serving part time asked me to become their associate pastor. Charleen and I were ecstatic.
By the end of that summer, the senior pastor had resigned, and I was named his successor. At age 24, I was handed the reins of a local church.
Most of my training prepared me for the one hour on Sunday morning. The first few months, I studied and planned until lunch. After lunch I headed for home. With my parishioners working during the day, I had nobody to visit, so at first I took afternoon naps or caught up on the afternoon soap operas! I returned to work in the evenings, visiting or attending church meetings.
A lot has changed since then — I now work afternoons. But regularly I'm faced with the same question: as a leader, exactly what am I supposed to do? This is especially true the first days of a new pastorate (or during the transition into a new chapter of church life). What should I do with my time? Where exactly should I lead the church? And what are the first steps I should take to lead them into the future, whatever that might be?
Recognize Your Swirling Emotions
I enjoyed baseball as a boy. Once while playing catcher, I stood up to grab a wild pitch. As I stretched for the ball, the batter swung, hitting me on the back of my head and laying me out across home plate. After that, I became a reluctant catcher.
Pastors can also feel reluctant to stretch for a new direction, fearful of ...
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