Major Shift in the Church Leadership in America
Over the next 10 years there will be a major shift in leadership within the church in our country.
Think about this … the generation of 50 and 60-somethings who have built so many effective churches will be passing the baton to the generation of 30 and 40-somethings. In some churches it’s already happening … the older generation has intentionally passed the baton to a younger generation or a 30-something pastor simply started a new church in the last few years. But whether it happens intentionally or the older generation ages out … in 10 years from now there will be a completely new face of leadership in the church.
That raises a critical question … what will this new leadership teach and model for the generations to come?
We are coming out of a 30-year era in the church where “church growth” was the goal. Church buildings have gotten bigger, staffs have gotten larger, programs have gotten more robust. There were 1000 mega churches just 10 years ago and now there are over 8000.
Also in the last few decades churches looked to the corporate world for insight on leadership and management. That gave rise to the CEO pastor who ran church like a business.
I am not even being critical of church growth and CEO pastors … many good things have come in the past 30 years. And now in a new era, I believe the leaders of the church will have to think and lead differently.
We can’t simply repeat the past and expect different results.
So what kind of changes do you think are necessary to lead the church into the future? What kind of leaders will it take?
Four changes that would work wonders:
1) dependence on Christ — deep in the spiritual disciplines
2) character — truely reflect the person of Christ, not content with a limited focus on competency
3) missional model — meaningfully and incarnationally engaged with the lost personally
4) participatory leadership style — not a top-down model
I see things moving more organic, with more participation in decisions. It will be more collaborative in nature. In my experience there is a desire to look as much like Jesus as possible and operate in the fullness of the Spirit of God. It is sometimes a struggle as a 30-something pastor to get my 50 & 60 something members to buy into this style of church as it’s not what they are used to. I wrestle with how this will look and play out in my life and the life of church as well in my blog http://pastorchrisjones.blogspot.com/
I am an Associate Pastor who is in his 50′s and serve with a Lead Pastor in his 30′s. One of the things I can do and encourage others in my position to do is to help build the bridge between the generations. I understand what needs to happen in our church and I support my Lead Pastor and his vision. It is necessary for me not to be a roadblock, but to settle any fears in any of our long-time church members when they don’t exactly understand why we are making changes.
From experience there are a few things for leaders that transcend generations : Don’t neglect your personal time with God. It is necessary for any who serve to have high integrity. Develop trust with your members. Love your members. Be an example in what you preach.
I would like to see a Leadership Focus that was built on:
-Corporate Worship
-Specific Interest Fellowship (Hunting, Running, Reading, Art, etc) where people can connect and grow organically.
-Small Group, “doing life together”
-Discipleship, being intentional about tapping into the wisdom of leading generation and being intentional about passing that wisdom down to the emerging generations.
A major shift will need to be made in youth ministries. A tackling of life’s big questions and teaching on other beliefs they will encounter along with experiential learning through service and seeing the reality of people’s lives being changed because of Jesus Christ!
Just simply preach and teach the truth – We have come into a time when we want church as a convenience not as a teacher of Gods Holy Truth. Life styles need to conform to Christ and His teachings of Gods Truth and Leave the consequences to God. The love of money and love of pleasure are combatants of Gods Truth. We’ve got to have men that will live Gods Truth and then teach it to others.