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When starting a new pastoral position, your goal is to share your ministry ideas, without saying that they’re your ministry ideas.
In ministry, things typically take a long time.
- If you accept this, then you must identify as early as possible who in your congregation has had similar ideas in their own mind.
There is no other time like a pastoral transition when you have momentum and “congregational capital” supporting you.
- To only want to slip in, become accepted and established as a pastor, is a sure-fire recipe for the ministry going nowhere.
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The Usual Way
Typically, the denomination (as well as centuries of pastoral practice) will tell you to establish leadership in five areas:
- Sundays (like, worship, etc.)
- Programs
- People
- Money (both regular and crises)
- Meetings
If you do this, one (or a combo) of two things will happen:
- Either people love you because you accept what they do and try to improve upon it, or…
- People opposite of love you because you want to change everything and it throw poo-poo on their discipleship
Either way, the ministry context of the past remains and any new ideas of ministry cannot take hold.
- Besides (and foundational to) these five areas are the ACTUALLY important components of ministry where your leadership must take hold.
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The Core
Here they are:
- Myths – The stories that the congregation implicitly tells about itself that defines their identity.
- History – Their interpretation of where they have come from and the meaning of it today.
- Norms – Accepted and expected behavior as a congregation, in terms of decision-making, discipleship, and interaction with the greater community.
- Ideas – Their thoughts on the future and what could possibly be in store for them.
- Relationships – The social and political bonds of a congregation that usually become visible during public meetings.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Stay connected for an upcoming webinar on pastoral transitions for digital, diversity, and the dreams of the community.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]