What in the World Does a Senior Pastor Do?

Have you ever wondered what it is that a Senior Pastor does and how he spends his time week in and week out? Of course you have - even my kids ask me, 'dad, what do you do at the church all the time?' As I have considered and prayed about the transitions we are going through right now at WCC I have thought much on how I spend my time as your Senior Pastor and how I can most effectivley use my time in order to lead you to Christ and His purpose and vision for your life and this ministry.

During my thoughts and prayers God has lead me to two great Scriptures that pretty much form my approach to Pastoral Leadership. They are Ephesians 4:11 - 13 and Exodus 18:15 - 27. Ephesians gives me the overview of my role as one who 'equips' the saints (that's you) for God's work in this world. The primary tools I have for equipping God's people are the Word, Prayer and the Holy Spirit. These three form the very foundation for all that I do and really all that I am. I often tell our staff and leadership teams, 'if you are doing the ministry, then you are behaving un biblically, because we are called to 'equip' God's people for the Kingdom work in this world - not to do it for them.' I constantly encourage our leaders to help our teams and congregation understand that 'all ministry is mission' or as one of our own Westsider's has told me, 'all ministry is honorable.' So, there is the big picture of my role here - equip you to follow Christ and His calling/purpose and vision on your life and this church.

Exodus gives me some very practical ways I can be about doing this and really provided a great framework for how I spend my time week in and week out.

1. I must Pray on behalf of the congregation, individually and corporately.
   
2. I must Teach God's Word and encourage us as disciples to pursue godly living and to follow Him on mission in this world. This means that my teaching should guide us to fulfill His vision in our lives and congregation.
   
3. I must Select and Recruit Godly Leadership over the ministry areas of this congregatio
   
4. I must Equip the Leadership and Deploy them into the ministries they oversee and hold them accountable to the vision and purposes of WCC!

These four areas constitute the bulk of my time spent as the Senior Pastor of this great congregation. Over these next few weeks my own focus will be on selecting capable leadership to lead our Youth Ministry, our Easy Steps Ministries (outreach/connections) and our Small Group Ministries. As I do this I am going to be encouraging this church to actively pursue raising funds to build our roof.

The main hire God is leading me to pursue in the near future will be one in the area of worship and creative arts for our congregation. I invite your input but also your prayers as I seek God's direction and work with our elders and leadership to fulfill the biblical role God calls us to fulfill and to pursue His vision for this ministry!

More Than Before!
Pastor Biz

No Worries, Just Witness!

We always want to know more than we need to know while at the same time failing to recognize what has already been laid before us! This is common to us and really always has been. During His last days on the earth Jesus’ disciples asked Him when He was going to ‘restore the kingdom.’ They seriously wanted to know when the final question would finally be answered. When could they expect Christ to establish Himself, and derivatively them, as the rulers of all humankind? They basically sought relief, more than power. They simply wanted their anxiety alleviated and their century’s long search to come to an end. Of course, as always, Jesus’ answer gave them all they would need for centuries to come while pointing out a miserable problem in their perspective. This is what He said:

“It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of the earth, Acts 1:7 – 8.”

In many ways their question is understandable and even expected. After all, our Lord had recently risen from the dead (no small feat to say the least). They no doubt remember all the words He spoke before His resurrection that directly indicated His Kingdom fulfillment. In many ways they are simply caught in really what could be called the greatest ‘transition’ in the history of human kind. As such, they are excited, nervous, confused, concerned, seeking answers and asking the questions that you and I would have asked then and, to be honest, ask even today in the midst of transitions!

Today our questions go more like this: ‘God, what are you up to?’ Or, "Lord, did you really mean this?" Or, "Would you just finally answer my prayer – you know the one I have been asking for years – the answer I have been seeking most of my adult life?" Or - closer to what we are experiencing here at Westside - it might be more like this. ‘Lord, what are you up to right now?’ ‘What are we going to do about our youth or our worship or our discipleship or our small groups or our assimilation or our . . . ?’ The list could go on and on and even I have found myself voicing some of those concerns and questions in these past weeks and months.


I think that is why the Lord has lead me to this Scripture and the series of Scriptures that will follow. In fact He want you and I to know that there are some things that only God knows the answer to and really we should not concern ourselves with. In fact, He does not even spend time trying to make us feel better about the situation, rather He reminds us of our vision and purpose!


As we go through yet another transition here, I am looking for a renewed commitment to the vision and purpose of this ministry. There are things that we do not need to know are not important in terms of the mission God has called us to. But the mission is clear - we are called to ‘transform our communities with Jesus’ and our purpose, the way we fulfill this vision is to 'engage unbelievers with the Gospel of Christ, Equip believers to grow closer to Christ and Enlist believers to reach their communities with Christ.'

As I meet with our leadership teams and focus in on some of the areas that we need to address I want you to know that we are not 'feeling' our way here nor are we 'wondering what to do next.' God's vision is clear for us and we will continue to pursue it here through this ministry.

I ask that you take some time this week and decide what piece of the vision God is calling you to 'own.' As you ask Him this question, He will lead you to 'step up' and become more involved!


Over the next few weeks I will be updating this blog on a weekly basis and informing you of the direction I am taking here and ask for your prayer and input into that direction. God is not done with us yet and, in fact I believe our best days are still yet to come! As you read my blogs, please, please respond and let me know your thoughts and how you might come alongside of this great ministry God has called us to lead!


More Than Before!

Pastor Biz