Executive Pastor Roundtable Part 3
Two weeks ago we started a discussion (Pt. 2 is here) with the Executive Pastors of three very different but fast growing churches: Kevin Peck, Steve Miller, and Josh Patterson. This week we talk about the qualities needed of executive pastors in missional churches.
Note: This is the last part of this series, so if you have questions, be sure to post them, and I’ll ask the guys to interact here.
Rethink Mission: Some people think the exec pastor role is second place for guys who can’t preach. What would you say to an energetic young pastor or church planter who is drawn to the power or prestige of being the up-front leader, but is starting to realize that he’s not that guy?
Kevin: Many executive pastors can preach. And from my experience, executive pastors at innovative, growing church are often very good preachers. They are serving in their capacity in joyful obedience to Jesus. I serve where and how I serve because my King has commanded me. Anyone who is feeling led to lead the bride of Christ needs to come to a place of honest submission to the will of God. It is an incredibly dangerous thing to try to lead the body of Christ in an effort to gain power or prestige. God will not yield His glory to another. He actually opposes the proud. This should be terrifying to any would-be leader.
Steve: I would rejoice that he’s realizing that now, and then tell him to repent of his power or approval idol that’s driving him to want so desperately to be a front man. I would then encourage him to meditate on Romans 12:3-8. There Paul is calling us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but rather with sober judgment, meaning we need to get a right view of who we are. In the rest of that passage he explains we are a body where not all have the same function, which includes pastors. We need to use the gifts God has given us so He can be famous, not so we can be famous. If a pastor reading this is struggling with what his role should be, may God give him a humble confidence to be able to ask godly leaders in his life what they honestly see in him (strengths and weaknesses), helping him embrace how God has wired him so ultimately the gospel can advance.
“I have found that a lot of guys lack self-awareness and are blinded by self-righteous pride. They desire the power and prestige of being the up-front leader more than they desire to see Christ’s Church move forward in power and prestige.” -Josh Patterson
Josh: Again, the role is different at each church. Some executive pastors can’t preach and shouldn’t preach. Some of them can preach and should preach. Some lead pastors can’t preach and shouldn’t preach. Some of them can preach and should continue to preach. The reality is that the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer according to His sovereign will. These gifts manifest themselves and engender edification, repentance, encouragement, direction, understanding, etc in the body of Christ. If you think you can preach, but nobody else does then it should be pretty clear to you…this is not your gift. If you think you can lead and nobody follows, then you can’t lead. If you think you can teach and everyone always leaves confused, then you can’t teach. It doesn’t mean you are a bad person or less than anyone else… it means that the Holy Spirit did not sovereignly decide to gift you in that way. But, He has gifted you and you need to walk in this. Self-awareness and the affirmation of the body is essential.
I have found that a lot of guys lack self-awareness and are blinded by self-righteous pride. They desire the “power and prestige of being the up-front leader” more than they desire to see Christ’s Church move forward in power and prestige.
Rethink Mission: What qualities do you think are important for an executive pastor of a missional church to have?
Kevin: XPs for missional churches must have a deep, driving commitment to the church being primarily a people on mission. He must have violent allegiance to the mission of God being accomplished rather than the local church growing in budget, prestige, etc. If the executive pastor is ambiguous in this passion the church will quickly becoming nothing more than a self-propagating, self-exalting, pseudo-commercial organization. Was that too subtle? I can’t say enough about this. If the executive pastor is not primarily about God’s mission, the church won’t be either.
XPs for missional churches must be good theologians. If this is not the case, the church will be driven by
pragmatism rather than the Word of God.
XPs for missional churches must be missiologists. The work of the team leader is to find effecitive ways
to intersect the gospel with culture.
Steve: He needs to fulfill the character qualities found in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, displaying he loves Jesus and is a biblically qualified elder. Who we are in Christ comes before what we do for Christ. I think exec pastors can get caught up in doing the business of church and forget that its about being a godly pastor who loves Jesus and loves people. That said, he should also be a strategic thinker who can anticipate challenges, a team builder who seeks to raise up and empower other men and women to lead, and lastly I would say he needs to be flexible. If a church is a missional church, it will constantly be seeking new ways to engage the culture and serve its city. That means a lot of trial and error. That means a lot of venturing into the unknown. That means thinking outside the box… or the org chart. If the lead pastor is willing to do that, but the exec pastor or other pastoral staff members aren’t, then conflict and dissension will ensue. If you’re gonna be missional, you gotta be flexible, you gotta be willing to get a little messy.
“…he should also be a strategic thinker who can anticipate challenges, a team builder who seeks to raise up and empower other men and women to lead, and… he needs to be flexible.” -Steve Miller
Josh: I would start with 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Peter 5:1-5. These would be primary for a church considering someone for the role of executive pastor. Secondarily, every church has a slightly different set of responsibilities and expectations for this position, so these need to be defined as well. I know the other guys you are interviewing for this blog (Kevin Peck at The Austin Stone and Steve Miller at The Journey) and our roles are similar in many areas and different in others. You want a guy who is growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), who lives a reconciled life through the power of the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:14-21), and can lead leaders and build teams with the strength found in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
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Part 1 of the interview is here.
Part 2 on leading from the 2nd chair.
You can follow each of these guys on Twitter: Kevin Peck Steve Miller Josh Patterson
The heart of this website are the Missional Q&A Interviews, updated weekly, where church leaders like you talk about the issues they face on a daily basis.
Tags: leadership
[...] Matt has desired a plurality of leaders from the beginning and has modeled humility in leadership. When we delegate responsibility and not the authority to act we only hamstring and stifle leadership. It takes both (responsibility and authority). A lot of lead pastors delegate responsibility and don’t empower with true authority. So, I personally have all of the influence and platform I need to successfully fulfill my role at the church. – Part 1 of the interview is here. Part 3 on the qualities needed of an executive pastor of a missional church. [...]
[...] Part 2: Leading from the Second Chair. Part 3: The Qualities of an Executive Pastor of a Missional Church. [...]
I’ve read a lot of material on the role of the XP and also the role of second-chair leaders. Most of the information is set in the context of very clear top-down org structures that mirror corporate America where the XP role is mainly to be the interface between the operational staff and the senior pastor. I’d like to know a little more about how you view the role of the XP in a missional church that has also embraced a plurality of elders model of leadership where that type of management seems to be irrelevant.
Men…we get a lot of confusion from our people regarding the title “Exec. Pastor”. Our corporate guys don’t understand the term in light of their understanding of “executive” and internally, we just aren’t sure it fits our culture. What are some alternative terms/titles that might fit the roll of the XP?
Thanks for putting this series together; its been really helpful and inspiring. I appreciate everyone’s time in sharing their insights and wisdom.