A Controlled Burn

"So many well-meaning pastors get wounded because they don't have the right skills to lead through change.

So the things that we normally associate with pastoral ministry—preaching and pastoral care—are not what's needed to reform a church? You have to preach, teach, and do pastoral care. That's essential. But on top of that, a reformer needs a separate skill set. They must be thinking, How am I going to make this culture change? How can I inject a new mindset for ministry among these people? How can I get them to think about the church as a mission that's sent out instead of just people coming in?

What skills do we need that don't seem especially pastoral? Ministry is a spiritual enterprise, but it has a social component. Pastors need to understand the social structures of a congregation. They need to be cultural anthropologists diagnosing the factors that prevent growth. . . . . .

So many churches say they want change, but they really want someone to bring back 1959. And that won't work."

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