3. Perspectives of Denominational Leaders about Pastoring of Pastors

MAPI, with the help of Eunice Zillner from the research department of Sepal, surveyed denominational leaders and pastors on the topic of mentoring or pastoring of pastors.  The preliminary and partial results, based on a sample of 108 of these leaders, follow below.  We continue to survey further leaders to be able to provide better comparisons between regional groups, types of denominations, etc. 

A large majority of the respondants (87%) are men between the ages of 21 and 60.  Ninety-eight percent are ordained ministers, sixty-five percent of which have been in ministry for at least 11 years.   Twelve states are represented, with large groups from the Southeast (33%), from the Northeast (27%), and from the South (23%).  There is also a group from other countries in Latin America, mainly Guatemala (11%).  The majority (58%) live in cities with a population of a million or more.

The sample includes 60 denominations divided between historic (59%), charismatic renewal (14%) and pentecostal (27%). Almost a third of the respondants (29%) come from small denominations of 10,000 or less, with a larger number from denominations from 10,000 to a million adherents (52%), and 19% from denominations of more than one million.

The sample is largely divided into two groups: denominational and para-church leaders, equippers of pastors, and seminary professors (34%), and pastors and missionaries (66%).  One-fourth of the participants (28%) do not supervise or care for pastors, while a third (33%) cares for up to ten pastors.  One quarter (28%) cares for 11 to 100 pastors, and a smaller group (11%) cares for 100 pastors or more.

Almost all of the leaders in this sample (85%) feel a need for a mentor or pastor in their lives and ministries today.  A majority (59%) have a mentor, and out of this group, most are content (47%) or very content (38%) with their mentors.  These numbers indicate that the idea of having a mentor or pastor has won a certain acceptance and has become a personal value for many leaders. 

Two-thirds (75%) of respondants indicated that 10% or less of the pastors in their denomination are pastored.  A minority (9%) indicated that 50% or more of their pastors are pastored.  The denominations that have a large amount of mentoring already occurring can serve as models for others, showing the way and sharing their tools.  As is always found in informal surveys, the wives of pastors receive less pastoral care then pastors themselves, 84% of those surveyed indicating that 10% or less receive pastoral care in their denomination. 

The leaders surveyed indicated the three greatest difficulties or barriers to pastors  receiving pastoring or mentorship in their lives, in order of priority (1, 2, and 3).  The majority indicated three factors over and above the other four areas.  The biggest problem was difficulty trusting others (62%), followed by the tyranny of the urgent and activism (57%).  Third area?  It can be said that the internal barriers seem larger than the external ones in the search for mentors. 

Three more problems were highlighted by a good number of the leaders:

1. Lack of motivation or vision (44%)
2. Difficulty in finding a mentor (44%). 
3. Not understanding how mentoring works (37%)

In the survey, almost all of those who responded indicated four or five names of people who have great influence over the lives and ministries of pastors in their city or state.  In each of these locations, this list of names should be considered with special care when planning a state-wide consultation.  This question may be the most practical of all if it used to do good follow-up.

We asked in which areas the leaders felt that the pastors of their denomination most need to grow.  Choosing from a list of nine items, they indicated three primary areas and three secondary areas.  The three most common answers were:

1. Their relationship with themselves (emotional health, Christian character) – 62%
2. Their relationship with their spouse and children – 55%
3. Their relationship with God – 47%

Over the years, surveys of pastors’ needs have indicated the same area over and over: their relationship with God.  This survey surprises us with two areas highlighted above this one.  The first calls us clearly to value life formation in our leaders, both in their character and their emotional health.  Pastors need discipleship or mentoring to shape their character, as well as counseling or restoration ministries to address their emotional health.  The second highlight, their relationship with their family, is apparently beginning to be recognized as a need as great as their relationship with God.

In general, respondants chose the six relational areas far more than the three ministerial ones.  The need to grow in Biblical or secular knowledge was chosen the least of all the options.  Apparently, the majority of pastors and leaders have a good foundation in terms of knowledge and ministerial capacities.  Where they really want to grow is in their relational abilities. 

We asked the same question one more time, requesting that the pastors and leaders indicate the areas in which they most want to grow, not just where they see a need in their denomination.  The majority (54%) indicated their relationship with God as their primary area.  Their relationship with themselves came in a far second (9%), and their relationship with a pastoral group came in third (8%).  Clearly, most key leaders who participated in this survey would gain a lot from being mentored in their relationship with God.

We broadened the question, asking that each leader indicate the three areas in which he/she would most like to grow.  The results indicated that the three greatest priorities for personal growth are:

1. Relationship with God (67%)
2. Relationship with themselves (49%)
3. Relationship with their families (41%). 

The need to grow in their relationships with God is in first place, but almost half also highlighted a need to grow in their relationships with themselves and their families.

After the three areas which we just mentioned, between a third and a fourth of those who responded highlighted the following three items as fourth through sixth priorities:

4. The ability to disciple, mentor, or form lives (35%)
5. Their relationship with a pastoral group (25%)
6. Their relationship with a mentor (24%).

Once again, ministerial abilities (5%) and knowledge (2%) were very insignificant in comparison with the relational areas recorded above. 

We asked that the pastors and leaders indicate the most important strategies for implementing pastoring of pastors in their denominations.  Given the option of indicating as many as they wished among twelve strategies, each one was indicated by at least 59% of the pastors.  This shows that each strategy listed is quite valid and interesting.

At least one fourth of those who responded chose among the six items listed below as one of the three most important strategies.  The first items in bold below were also marked when the choice was unlimited.  The last two items listed below indicate new areas.  They are important, although significantly less so than the first items on the list.

1. Having a pastor who is passionate about pastoring or mentoring pastors and is designated for this role (56%).
2. You (the person who took the survey) being mentored or having a pastoral leader (49%).
3. All of the pastors in your circle being encouraged to be pastored or mentored (31%).
4. This pastor raising up a team to extend this pastoring or mentorship (27%).
5. This pastor (the one who leads pastoring of pastors in the denomination) being mentored or having a pastoral leader (26%)
6. All pastors being encourged to pastor or mentor other key leaders, that can then learn to reproduce this in others (25%).

At the end of the survey, when the respondants were asked about the importance of a movement or network of pastoring of pastors, on a scale of 0 to 10, no one answered with a low number.  A few people (6%) gave the network or movement an importance of 6 or 7.  More than one fourth (27%) indicated it had a high importance (grades 8 or 9) and a great majority (67%) indicated that it had the greatest possible importance: grade ten.  Apparently, there is a felt need for this ministry in the majority of the 60 denominations that participated in this survey.

To close, we asked “how much time weekly would you be willing to give so that pastoring of pastors might become a reality in your context?”  It became clear that the grand majority (89%) does not have a call to dedicate themselves to pastoring of pastors.  But there was a group (11%) with a different answer.  Four people answered that they would give 11-20 hours to this cause, and four people indicated 30 hours or more.  These people are strategic in the pastoring of pastors movement.  We need to find more people like them, with this calling and passion.  We dream that God will raise up at least one person that will work full-time in this area in each denomination with above 100 pastors in Brazil.

Other links:

1. Download this report as a Word document.
2. Some ideas of how to implement pastoring of pastors in a denomination.
3. Return to the main page about partnerships.
4. The survey form on which this report is based.