Who Works for Whom?
Norman Shawchuck
The essence of the minister lies in what God has created him to be rather than in what the church authorized him to do.
John Stacey
The real work of adjusting to a new church begins after the candidating, after the hiring, and after the moving. By this time the church should know what it is getting in its new leader. The résumé tells what he or she can do. The interview may give some indication of how well he thinks on his feet. His comments about expectations and fears reveal something of his humanity and call. But only in the day-to-day shoulder-rubbing of ministry do the true dynamics of working together surface.
One of the most crucial testing grounds is deciding the question of authority. Who is in charge here? And how does that authority work in practice?
Ironically, structure and polity rarely decide this issue. In the business world, the question of who reports to whom pretty well settles the question. In the church, however, the organizational chart rarely reflects true power bases; the pastor is left to operate the best he can, given the realities of tradition, hidden agendas, and personal networks.
Just how does a new pastor settle the question of power in an organization that shuns it? Norman Shawchuck wrote this chapter based on his own pastoral experience in several United Methodist churches and his many years of church consulting work. He has viewed literally hundreds of churches where the power question has been asked and answered in scores of different ways.
If this question is not answered quickly, the new ministry will sputter and stall until a strategy is developed.
One of the most difficult and perplexing tasks for many pastors is confronting a volunteer or part-time worker. The worker may be doing a ...
- Does this person have the ability to do the job well?
- Does this person have sufficient time to give to the job?
- Does this person have sufficient interest in the job?
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