Hey, I have a question for you. How does one “lead a church”?
Let’s say that you have been a member in a church for many years. You have served in that church in a variety of ministries and capacities.
And now you have been given the call from the Lord to lead the church, but not as pastor. What do you do? Where do you begin? How do you do that?
I’m pondering this question - anew - as I consider my role in “leading” our church here in Banska Bystrica.
The form of church government used here in Slovakia in the Baptist denomination is congregational. What that means in a nutshell is that the highest organ or the most powerful element for decision-making (outside of the Lord Jesus, of course) is the congregation.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes right now. Some of you may be saying, “Right on!”
But whatever your reaction, think about my original question - “How does one lead a church?” without a position of authority - without being given the role, rights and power of that expectation?
Maybe I’ll give my 2 cents worth on this question in the near future, but more than that, I’d like to hear your input.
Who knows, maybe you’ll change the future of the church of Christ in Slovakia?
Let’s say that you have been a member in a church for many years. You have served in that church in a variety of ministries and capacities.
And now you have been given the call from the Lord to lead the church, but not as pastor. What do you do? Where do you begin? How do you do that?
I’m pondering this question - anew - as I consider my role in “leading” our church here in Banska Bystrica.
The form of church government used here in Slovakia in the Baptist denomination is congregational. What that means in a nutshell is that the highest organ or the most powerful element for decision-making (outside of the Lord Jesus, of course) is the congregation.
Some of you may be rolling your eyes right now. Some of you may be saying, “Right on!”
But whatever your reaction, think about my original question - “How does one lead a church?” without a position of authority - without being given the role, rights and power of that expectation?
Maybe I’ll give my 2 cents worth on this question in the near future, but more than that, I’d like to hear your input.
Who knows, maybe you’ll change the future of the church of Christ in Slovakia?
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3 comments:
If God wants you to lead, the people He wants you to lead will follow. The people He does not want to follow you wont. It's His vision, not yours, go with it and be an open vessel for what God wants to do through you.
If you are not called to be the pastor, then the first step I would think,is to get close to the recognized leadership of the church. Get a sense of the direction that the Lord is leading through them and through your relationship give the input and vision that God has given to you to them. Otherwise, remembering that our leadership standard is one of servanthood, then one must, through serving the membership and through the relationships we establish in a church, even so our influence is felt and seen and exercised.
Careful here, you have a house-churcher on your distribution list. He believes the whole concept of "church leadership" had been corrupted VERY early on, and the non-corrupted concept can be gleaned from Hebrews 13. One particular is in that line, "Obey your leaders..." Look at the Greek. Do an intensive study on the whole context of the chapter and then the book (Jesus Christ the High Priest), then go back to the writer's actual (not translated) DESCRIPTION of what the leaders were all about. One hint: "leaders" in v. 17 is a verb, not a noun. In sum, it wasn't what the English translations or major and minor denominational views and theologies would lead you to believe.
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