I chair our church’s pastor-search committee, and members keep telling me, “Find a leader.” They seem to think our church has suffered because of poor leadership, but I’m wondering if we’re afflicted with poor “followship.” What kind of leader can help us be better followers?
Your question implies people coming to you think leadership and followship are exclusive. In a Baptist church, and almost any other organization, the vision must be embraced by both the leader and the followers.
I once heard of a pastor-search committee that held a town-hall meeting. A senior member of the congregation rose from her chair. “We do not want a dictator,” she said. “We just want someone to tell us what to do.” Most Baptists see the contradiction in her statement but also understand exactly what she expressed. We want a leader we can follow, but one who will give consideration to our visions.
Pick the right kind
Perhaps your church wants both leadership and followship, but you need to pick the right kind of leadership in order to cultivate appropriate followship. Although they don’t say it directly, people in the pew usually want a pastor who shares their vision. The task of the pulpit committee is to find a leader who can synthesize and then communicate a vision that can be shared by the congregation.
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SOUCE: The Baptist Standard
Stacy Conner
