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