How and why has the role of pastor changed?
This question could go in a variety of different directions, so I thought I would start by asking some further questions (feel free to explore more through related posts, comments and emails):
- How has the recent trend of multi-site churches affected or will affect the role of pastor in these churches?
- Because the church has shifted over the last 25 years or so to larger congregations, how has this change affected the role of pastor?
- How has the transition to more multi-staff churches with more specialized roles (in comparison to the past that saw smaller church congregations with a more general role of the Pastor) affected the role of pastor?
- How has the media and internet affected the perception of the pastor? It is a unique phenomena in the history of the church that the average person in the pew compares (consciously or unconsciously) their pastor with the best preachers, leaders, administrators and counselors in the world?
- How has pastoral specializations based on age/genre affected how we understand the role of pastor (youth, children’s, women’s, young adult, etc.)?
- Has the church modeled much of its ministry and the role of pastor after the business world – where more and more pastors see the metaphor of their role as CEO rather than shepherd? Is this problematic?
- Has the change of roles affected the contemplative nature of pastors – where there seems to be more and more expectations and less and less time to devote to prayer and the study of Scripture? Is this a problem?
- Has the growth of multiple paid-staffs contributed to the the decline of lay-leadership and ministry?
- How has this change of role affected theological education?
- Is what the Bible teaches on pastoral ministry supportive of these changes, contrary to them, or ambivalent to them?
I am not making any judgments or remarks on particular models of ministry. I am just fearful that we are not asking any of these and other questions. Any change we make to how we “do church” will have short-term and long-term affects. I think we are often guilty of making changes without proper and adaquate reflection. I also get the sense that many of my colleagues are asking these question and there seems to be inadequate answers for them, if any at all.
