As thirty churches have finished up the EHS Church-Wide Initiative and I have continued to interact with Pastors around North America, I am now convinced that defining success is a critical question for us in leadership. Sadly, it has been defined narrowly as numbers and budgets. I don’t think I am going too far in saying that may be idolatry and the very antithesis of the mustard-seed nature of Jesus’ kingdom. To do leadership in the church differently is no small challenge. The following is my first draft for success as a Senior Pastor (for me): 1. Walk in Integrity – with God, self, and others. This is reflected in a sense of peace, rest and a life filled with communion with Him. 2. Experience a joyful marriage with Geri where our we serve our children and others out of a cup that overflows. 3. Provide leadership in short, mid and long range issues that is thoughtful, prudent, intentional and patient. 4. Ensure leadership is unified around a common vision with common values. Each leader then leads from within out of their own unique inner journey. 5. Lead in such a way that the organism of the church works well together (in our case that would include first our elders, deacons, pastoral and administrative staff, as well as community development directors, and then to our membership) 6. Mentoring the next generation of leaders, transitioning power away from myself towards others who will take NLF forward into God’s purposes beyond me. What might you add to or delete from this list if we were to make this more broadly applicable?
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May
