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Solo Pastor: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges of Leading a Church Alone

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So without scolding pastors or churches for the current reality, let’s get down to those seven ways – some of which are much better than others – to keep your church from killing you. I wasn’t trying to be confusing either, but it would have been better if I had clarified that I was talking about the solo pastorate driving you right out of the ministry. Following are a few truths we need to remember. I hope they will affirm the single clergy among us, and perhaps encourage married people to better appreciate the ministry experiences they had before saying “I do.” I recommend McIntosh’s book to all solo pastors, especially those at the start of their ministries in smaller churches.

Influence Magazine | How to Lead a Church Alone

If God gives the vision and the resources (or honest anticipation of resources), it's an automatic yes. If either one of these is missing, or if conditions are uncertain, it's a not yet. Years ago, when most of us were single, sailing through that lovely phase of life after dorms and before mortgages, many of my circle were in seminary preparing for the pastorate. Some of us were already working in ministry settings. The running joke was that single/not-dating was a fine situation, even preferable when pressing hard into the MDiv studies. But the day after graduation, be sure to show up at that first church placement married, with two kids, one on the way, and a dog! It seemed people (and search committees) just preferred their pastors married. Use two criteria to determine when to say yes and when to say no to new opportunities. (1) Do your people "own" the vision? If it originated with one or a few, do others see it as a priority? It's best to delay starting a new ministry unless you have a minimum of five people committed to getting it started and keeping it running. (2) Do you have the emotional and spiritual resources, personnel, money, and facilities? Leaping from the ground to a rooftop several stories high sounds exciting, but it's possible only among fictional superheroes. In most cases, the best way to get on a rooftop is to use a ladder to climb up one rung at a time. Recognizing your limits and narrowing your focus help define priorities. By setting measurable goals, like rungs on a ladder, you can step progressively higher and higher until you accomplish your vision.Denominational officials, Bible college professors, and ministry coaches also will benefit from reading the book. The insights McIntosh offers will help them target their advice to the needs of solo pastors they are leading and training. Learn what it means to be a “differentiated” or “self-differentiated” individual and become one. This is a psychological concept that is worth studying. It’s today’s way of singing, “Dare to be a Daniel; dare to stand alone; dare to have a purpose firm and dare to make it known.”

Solo Pastor: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges of

Then I got mad. After one particular “aha” discovery, I found myself yelling at an empty room, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?!” Family Pressures Part 3 focuses on three aspects of small-church leadership: communication, both verbal and nonverbal; vision and direction; and resource management. Solo pastors have an urge to lead a church beyond its capacity. As Christians, we must count the cost of discipleship, but the principle applies to ministry too—godly faith leads to strategically planned ministry.Since that is true, it follows that being called and equipped to ministry does not hinge on marital status. In His fully human incarnation, Jesus submitted His divine self to be a servant (Philippians 2.6), and lived out that ministry as a single man with rich relationships. Peter was married. Paul was single. Priscilla and Aquila were marriage and ministry partners together. Whether single or married, each of these giants of the early Church chose to follow Jesus, and were used powerfully by God for the spreading of the Gospel. Single pastors and married ministers alike need to explore their fitness for ministry based on Scriptural principles, not lifestyle stages.

Solo pastors: 8 ways to make the most of limited resources

Don't give up on the larger, comprehensive vision, but invest your energy in meeting needs that match your present resources.Investing in your own health will reduce loneliness and stress while creating the opportunity to lead a healthier church,” McIntosh writes. Vision and ministry fit together. A God-given vision requires a church to step forward in practical ways to connect with real people in ministry situations. Faith is needed to begin new ministries, but this implies strategic thought, not a blind leap. With God’s help and very careful, deliberate, intentional, effort, the God-called, God-gifted solo pastor can succeed in his work and thrive as a child of God. Your pastorate doesn’t have to kill you. Sprinters go all out, exhausting themselves in a short race to win. Contrary to sprinters, long-distance runners pace themselves to finish a longer distance. Doing too much too fast in a solo-pastor church brings overextension, disillusionment, and collapse.

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