It’s not about the pastor

This post is from the defunct blog “Dying Church”

Alan Creech, via Next Wave:

The popular former definition of that word has been found severely lacking. Boss, Commander, CEO, Manager, Administrator, Sovereign – no, these won't do. They won't do because they aren't right. They are mistaken notions of what a pastor or elder or leader is designed to be in a faith community – and therefore, they go against the grain of Body life and cause it to be crippled. I have found it to be an "answer" that if we hold on to this philosophy of pastoral leadership, or continue in a system which holds this view inherently, we perpetuate the notion that only one or a very few people in a community are "ministers" and therefore, the idea in most that they are not. I mean to say that there IS leadership in the Body – there are still pastors and elders – but we cannot afford to be those things as we have been taught to be them. It's not about the pastor. It's about the whole Body of Jesus and the Life of God in the Holy Spirit living in and through us all.
Darryl Dash

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.
Toronto, Canada