REPOST: The Resistance Of My Pastor

This is guest blog post from Stephen Brewster - he blogs on creative church leadership at stephenbrewster.me

Over the past few months, I have had the privilege to talk to a lot of the creative class working in churches. The biggest frustration that seems to be existing is what I call “the resistance of my pastor.” Now, I have to be honest: I don’t face this resistance. In fact, I feel my pastor pushes me to stretch the boundaries. But I get it – I really do. So, here are a few things I have learned that might help you as a creative leader learn to co-exist with your pastor or pastoral team:

o Have respect. No one is always right, but you knew who the pastor was when you took the job. Respect your pastor, honor him, and continue to work hard for him – even when he does not like your ideas.

o If you are honest with yourself, is there a reason you are facing resistance? Have you checked your work ethic? Are you handling yourself appropriately? Are you owning your job or renting it? Are you meeting expectations? I have found that most of the time resistance is being encountered because at some point, trust has been lost between the pastor and the person facing the resistance. Find out why and fix it…TODAY.

o Walk in his shoes for a minute. He is running an entire organization. He has to account for everyone, not just the creative team. He may be seeing things you are not seeing and he knows things that are happening in the organization that you don’t know about yet. Trust him.

o Find a work around. Every pastor has a few things they care about more than anything else. Take the time to find out what your pastor cares about and deliver on those things. If you end up spending 50% of your time making sure that the things he cares about are taken care of, it will still leave you with 50% of your time to go develop, create, and innovate for your ministry.

o Be willing to be wrong. Understand that not every idea we have as a creative class is a great idea. Accept it and learn to allow yourself to be corrected.

o Remember who had the baby. When you work for a pastor who birthed a church, you have to remember that it is his child. God entrusted him with it and he is closer to it than you. Be a great steward of the work in front of you and try to go above and beyond to help this baby grow, mature, and develop.

o Worry more about creating momentum than being right. Your pastor has a desire for your church to grow. Worry more about doing things that will birth momentum in your organization than you are about being right. Being right and losing families or momentum wont help anyone.

o He does not get my process. Duh. That’s why he hired you. Explain it so he understands why you are doing what you are doing. Then, if that still does not clear up the situation, adjust. You are a creative person. You were made to adjust. Creative people must be the most flexible in the organization because we are leading the charge towards growth, change and new.

o Remember the law of age. Young people have great ideas; older people know how to get things done. Don’t freak out if your ideas meet resistance. If you are passionate about them, find ways to make them work and stop using the excuse that your pastor wont let you. If you earn his trust, he will let you.

o Hard work is the best bridge. Rarely do we hear about people being criticized for hard work. So, if you feel you are running into a brick wall, find ways to accomplish your goals INSIDE the structure of the organization. Work hard. Work harder than anyone else and you will develop trust that will allow your innovation to take shape. We will continue this list at another time…

What have you found that helps you create in an environment where your boss may not understand what you are trying to accomplish?