Faithful Congregation Leadership
by Chad Kohlmeyer
“Some lay people wake up thinking about the church, too,” a good friend recently said to me. This comment was related to our thinking about leadership and how God’s Spirit is at work in the church. Leaders in the church are not just the “paid professionals.” Amen?
This was one of many constant reminders I have received about the power and the gift of lay leadership in the church. It was a reminder that while clergy are set apart or called for certain tasks (proclamation, sacraments, funerals, administration, etc.), God will remain active and equip the saints for leadership throughout the church. A healthy congregation can both honor this and talk faithfully about the importance of clergy and lay leadership, and the faithful, sometimes tricky balance that needs to be found as we seek congregational health.
The question is often asked, “Are you a clergy/staff or a lay led congregation?” It is a good question, and there is a lot to learn from it. Congregations can become purely clergy/staff led, with very little lay involvement in decision-making. Church boards/councils/vestries can become little more than a rubber stamp for clergy/staff ideas, and cheerleaders for their initiatives. On the other hand, they may be critical and suspicious, feeling they have no input into decisions that are being made. Clergy/staff can also feel pressure internally and externally to operate in this way, like “it is their job,” to lead the church. That is fair, but is misled.
The other side of the coin is that a congregation becomes primarily lay led. This is likely less common, but it is natural to happen in times of transition, and some congregations and traditions simply lean more in this direction. Who these lay leaders are will depend on the size of the congregation. They can be a matriarch/patriarch, one or two families, a few individuals who are given authority, or an elected board/council/vestry. Clergy/staff can feel sidelined or left out of key decision-making, or like their voice isn’t valued.
Have you experienced this question or noticed these dynamics in your congregational life? If so, see this as an opportunity to both listen to Spirit and grow more deeply in relationship with one another.
The reality is that, regardless of congregational or denominational polity, the faithful and fruitful way forward is in the delicate balance of leadership between clergy/staff and the laity. We need one another. The health of the congregation depends on faithful dialogue and role differentiation discerned together. Seek this courageously as God’s people as you follow Jesus.
One playful idea to begin this dialogue is to create a “Whose role is it?” quiz from your church constitution at a board/council/vestry meeting. Yes, the constitution. Trust me, there is plenty of information there about roles and responsibilities to begin a conversation. The goal isn’t to shift the deck chairs of responsibility right away, or to elicit guilt or shame for who is, or isn’t, doing a specific task. The goal is to be in faithful dialogue around the tasks and responsibilities of leadership in congregational life. In this faithful dialogue, you can trust God will present a faithful way forward along with plenty of fodder for your next faithful step.
As a full-time parish pastor, one great delight is the gift of this partnership and the fruit that comes from nurturing these relationships. It is so inspiring to receive word that someone has “awakened in the morning thinking about church,” and to hear how God is inspiring them with a deep love for the church, its health, and future. I believe with all my heart that God has given each congregation all the gifts it needs to be faithful in the moment. Trust that, church! Till the soil of these gifts, give time and energy to them, and see what fruit you might bear together as you follow in the way of Jesus.
