Healthy Pastoral Teams

“It is not good for a man (or a pastor) to be alone. 
I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18, NIV)

“He who stays away from others cares only about himself.
He argues against all good wisdom.” (Prov. 18:1, NLV)
“One who isolates himself pursues [selfish] desires;
he rebels against all sound judgment.” (Prov. 18:1, HCS)

“Again I saw something meaningless under the sun:
There was a man (or pastor) all alone...”  (Eccl. 4:7).

The words in parenthesis in the verses above are my own additions.   

With few exceptions, both American and evangelical culture likes the idea of a strong leader, or “coronal,” someone who can do it all on his own.  The “coronal” style of leadership is exactly the opposite of plural leadership, or team-style leadership.  Although the word “team” has become popular in recent years, most churches maintain the same old culture under a different name.  Deep down, nothing has changed.  Missions also use the term widely, but continue to experience little of its reality. 

The change from a pastor-centered (and self-centered) model to a truly team-centered model takes time and rarely happens without many struggles along the way.  Changes of paradigm are not easy.  In order to avoid being traumatic, we think the process should take between 3-5 years.  As the leadership changes, the church culture also changes: it becomes more participative, less centralized, and more based on the gifts of the entire congregation.    

You can learn more about the formation of pastoral teams through the following links:

Note: We respect and are fully supportive of churches that have women pastors.  At the same time, for the sake of simplicity we will not repeatedly say "his or her," "he or she," or other similar differentiations when talking about pastoring. Please understand that when we use the masculine we are including the feminine.