introduction
Over
the past twelve years of the Grace Canberra (Grace Christian
Fellowship) congregation we have had opportunity to review a number of
aspects of structure and ministry. Since we separated from our previous
denominational structure we have thought, prayed and studied in order
to try and link Biblical revelation to contemporary circumstances. The
objective is to follow Jesus and fulfill his purpose. At this juncture
we have the opportunity of reviewing some aspects of pastoral leadership
and pastoral ministry.
- The relationship between Jesus and the people to whom he ministered in is likened to that of a shepherd and his sheep (Mt 9:36).
- The relationship between Jesus and the disciples is described by the prophets as that between a shepherd and his sheep (Mt 26:31).
- The relationship between Jesus and all people is likened to that of a shepherd and his sheep (Jn 10:11; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 2:25).
- Identified as one of the five equipping ministries for the church (Eph 4:11).
- Elders are charged with the challenge to combine their governmental role as willing caring servants of God’s purposes for the people rather than from a motive of greed or status (1Pe 1-4).
the idea of pastoral ministry as contrasted to the other defined ministry functions in the church
Despite
the claims of some theological streams, the New Testament does not
provide a definitive system for church leadership. What it does talk
about are a variety of leadership and ministry functions that are
expressions of the fullness of Christ. The function of pastoral ministry
is one of a number of ministry functions described in the New
Testament.
If
these functions example different aspects of that ministry it will help
to see the function of pastor in the context of the other functions.
Our challenge will be to see that all the functions are represented so
that Jesus might be the more fully known through our corporate
lifestyle.
pastoral ministry
The
Bible talks about the ministry function of a pastor (Ephesians 4) as an
equipping ministry function in the church, in connection to four
others. Two (apostles and prophets) are described in other places as
leadership functions, and three (teacher, pastor, evangelists) are
ministry functions that may not infer leadership. Whether or not they
should be seen as overall leadership functions doesn't cloud the the
fact that they are equipping functions, represented by people who don't
just DO the ministry but who EQUIP OTHERS to do the ministry.
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pastoral ministry as an integral part of the mission of the church
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This
ministry function needs to be effective because the overall task of the
church is to become a kingdom force in the community. We don’t provide
care to those people who want care. We need to get people well so they
can go back to the front line free from physical, emotional or spiritual
impediment.
The modeling of pastoral ministry by Jesus must be the first reference point for any attempt to profile the ministry itself
The
primary reference point for this is the ministry of Jesus, which
involved the modeling of pastoral care. It is therefore important to
take reference points from there.
A
direct reference to Jesus and his shepherd relationship with the
disciples comes by way of a quote from the prophet Zechariah, “This very
night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “ ‘I
will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
(Matthew 26)
If Jesus was a model of pastoral leadership, who was his church?
Surely,
first the twelve apostles and second, those who followed him. Yet, much
of the care Jesus provided was to people who were not part of his
“church.”
There is a lot of material showing the ministry of Jesus to his apostles. Not all of it represents pastoral leadership, but a significant amount constitutes the shepherd care he gave.
- If we are going to get anything at all out of this attempt to put forward clear Biblical references to the work of pastors we must see it in its real context. And, the context for his pastoral ministry was his mission.
- Jesus didn’t have an office to meet people in. He didn’t have a church building where people showed up for regular programs and activities. There is nothing to say that any of these are wrong in themselves, but we must be careful of making presumptions about them.
- Jesus was indiscriminate about who he connected with, ranging from all kinds of community spheres. Wheres today, we often define the ministry by the perimeters of the church. The ministry of Jesus was missional and without walls. Any ministry to the “members” occurred along the missional journey (e.g. he took his disciples aside, spoke to them after speaking to everyone else, healed a member of Peter’s family just before the crowds came to the back door, etc).
We have created an industry that offers ministry exclusively to the church and not the community. And there always seems to be an endless and often repetitive supply of clientele.
To
put some balance into the equation we need to make the following
observations about the shepherd model for the function of pastors
(Ephesians 4). The best known is based on the character of God described
in Psalm 23:
- meeting people’s needs
- training in righteous living
- providing strength in times of difficulty
- bringing celebration in the context of the battle
- bringing the presence of goodness and love
- keeping people in the covenant environment
judgement on neglectful shepherds in judah
The
other great Old Testament image is found in Ezekiel 34 when the Lord
chastises the priests for failing in their duty of care for the people.
From that passage we notice the following.
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pastoral ministry in the context of building church where you are
Our
overall vision (Grace Canberra) is to serve the goal of seeing God's
kingdom established in our region sphere by sphere using the strategy of
training, commissioning, and supporting missionaries and planting
churches in community spheres.
We are on a journey with coordinates that seek to follow after a ministry goal shaped by the unfulfilled desires of God revealed in Scripture. As such we must continue to model what we do on the ministry of Jesus and the principles of God's word.
One
of the issues we have to address is the will to set aside a model for
doing church that has failed to effectively represent neither the heart
nor the mission of Jesus Christ (see figure below). That is to stop
making church the centre but rather the start.
The term, pastor was re-introduced to the church following the Reformation (link).
It was a term Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and other Reformation leaders
used to contrast the Catholic term, 'priest.”'. They wanted to move as
far away from the idea of someone other than Jesus being a mediator
between God and people. Salvation was by faith alone and needed no
intermediary.
As a result the term 'pastor':- Is synonymous with congregational leadership in evangelical and charismatic churches.
- Is applied regardless of the style of leadership and particular leadership function a individual may fulfill.
- Has gained various associated functions (e.g. senior pastor, worship pastor, youth pastor etc), with the shared idea being that a person with one or other of these titles is the leader of a department of the church.
We
need to be responsible to recognise the gifts and anointing within
people and then commission them and support them. Even though 'pastor'
is the term recognized widely in our community for leaders of
evangelical churches and even though it is usually associated with
formal recognition, we all know the church of Jesus Christ needs to see
all of the functions working, and working together for the work to be
accomplished.
- Pastoral care reflects the commitment to making people whole
- Pastoral care must continue to be exercised in the church by the church to the church and community as an expression of God's heart to redeem, renew, and empower people for ministry.
- Wholeness cannot be considered separate from the missionary call of Christ: so our pastoral care ministry should empower people to become better missionaries.
- Pastoral care happens best in the context of the work of the mission by fellow missionaries
- The pastoral ministry is primarily an equipping ministry function in the church so that the whole church can become more able to provide pastoral care as and when it is needed. It is not a separate department of the church that does the work on behalf of the rest of the church.
- Pastoral leadership must transition from being a substitutionary function to a training and empowering one.
suggestions
- Identify the various skills and anointings associated with pastoral ministry
- Identify the people who represent those skills
- Develop and implement a plan to release the people with the skills and anointing to equip as many people as possible in the church beginning with those who have formal or informal leadership responsibilities
- Designate the people who have equipping skills as pastors
- As part of the equipping process, we delegate as much pastoral care to the missionary activity in community spheres
- Resist as much as possible the pressure to provide centralised substitutionary pastoral ministry.
- Provide incidental crisis pastoral care from among designated pastoral people according to geographical or community sphere location.
- Implement a plan to inform and encourage the church to understand our pastoral goals and seek to develop expectations that support them
