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Questions about Team Leadership

Oct 29, 2009 Print This Post

Last Tuesday, I did an interview on The Show about Riv’s leadership structure. We got to several of the questions, but there were several that came through on Twitter that we didn’t have time to answer. Here they are:

I am a church planter that watched you on leadnet. I would love info on how you grow pastors in your church.

There are three things that we focus our energies on:
Character – Scripture is very clear that a man isn’t qualified for eldership unless his character is “above reproach” (see 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1). This definitely doesn’t mean perfect, but it means he really needs to have his stuff together. It bothers me greatly when pastors/elders are ordained or appointed without significant time taken to examine their personal and family lives.
Ministry Skills – If they are going to do the “work” of ministry, they need to prove they can do the work. That means they have honed their skills in the areas they will be serving in. If they haven’t ever done any ministry, they need to get their hands dirty and have a proven track record before they are recognized.
Doctrine - Pastors need to be able to teach and correct wrong doctrine. That means they need to know right and wrong doctrine. This is not only in areas of Christian orthodoxy, but also in areas where your church has specific convictions. In order to have unity, you need to be in agreement on many issues that you consider close-handed. See this post for more on what issues you should have agreement on.

Is it better when you teach a whole series or when each pastor takes a turn each week inside the same series?

I don’t know if there is a better or worse here, it boils down to what you like. We have found it is pretty difficult to share a series because each of us has such different styles. The only time it seems to work is when we have many stand alone messages, with a single thread tying them together. For instance, we once did a series on our favorite passage of Scripture. That went well.

You mentioned a volunteer on staff – how does team leadership extend beyond paid staff?

I answered this one a bit on The Show, but I want to add a few more thoughts. I love the idea of more and more unpaid pastors in the church. I think we will always need a few paid pastors, but I love having guys who work in the community serving as pastors as well for several reasons:
1) They are cheaper.
2) They model serving, giving, and leading as volunteers.
3) They break down the “paid expert” mentality.

Did @noeljesse choose his own lead-in music?

I didn’t get to hear it. I’m hoping it was Guns N Roses.

Watching The Show via @leadnet and wondering if shared leadership operates at all levels – or just the top?

That varies quite a bit. Many of our ministries are led by teams and many are led by individuals.

What is the place of small groups in the church?

At Riv, we are all about our Weekend Services and Life Groups. Those are our two big focus areas and we tie them together by having Life Groups study message notes from the Weekend Services.