We can pretty much remove every single role of “leadership” in the Church now.
Do we need church leaders anymore?
We don’t need a preacher.
Seriously, we no longer need pastors to preach, we can listen to Driscoll, Piper, Bell or even the guy down the road who uploads vlogs with his latest sermon.
We don’t need a worship band.
We no longer need the worship band, we can play the CD with all the songs on (and probably performed better than your local churches music group. In fact, the YouTube video probably has the right words at the right point).
We don’t need someone to read prayers.
We no longer need people to think up intercessory prayers for the service, we can simply find a prayer blog online and download their latest guidelines.
This isn’t just for adults.
The same can be applied to the youth work as well, their are kids songs, handouts, Bible studies, we barely need to think about what we are going to do.
This Isn’t New
To some degree this has been the case for a while, ever since the Book of Common Prayer in England (and the tradition of liturgy) there has been a degree of prescription in Church services and guidance taking away the necessity of “leadership” but now instead of a pastor “needing” to be a good preacher…he/she doesn’t.
Instead of needing an amazing music group we just need the amazing music system.
Do We Even Need a Church Building?
In fact, we don’t even need a building any more. We can just go on to Google plus (or another video streaming service…but especially Google plus). Welcome people and then start the videos rolling. In fact, if you really wanted you could have a high quality “church service” (with great music, sermon, prayers etc) without even interacting with anyone else.
Crazy right! Who would want that option of a church “just for them” where they never interact with another person. Well, I’ve gone along to church services and not spoken to a single person so I guess it happens in buildings any way.
Are All Skills Redundant?
Let’s take my most extreme examples above. Although, they have removed many of the classical skills that people needed to be a leader in a church, there are some skills that are still so very important skills that are vital especially if we are going to “flip” churches.
Curration
Just like a traditional service a pastor needs to “currate” what is put in. They need to select a sermon (to make sure it isn’t false teaching) they need to choose the right prayer, the right worship songs etc…or they need to delegate these tasks to someone else to do them (which again is curration of the people who provide the content)
Caring
Looking after a community is a tough job especially when we are all so mucked up. People get ill, people die, people hurt each other, people are lonely.
Loving people is a tough call for a pastor.
Serving
Serving people is a tough and it is one of the tasks that you can’t outsource. You need people to make sure the kids don’t run around when they shouldn’t or run around when they should!
Praying for peoples individual needs also comes into play here.
The Flip Side
Although a “leader” now can choose to do less…the congregation can choose to do more. The small time worship leader can post his songs to YouTube and have thousands of people watch and enjoy their songs.
The prayer warrior in the back pew can publish their prayers and arrange mid week prayer meetings with people across the world.
The person with the side interest in theology can start write or recording their sermons online, or even publish an ebook that is read by more people than the pastor of the church.
In many ways more and more people are publishing and leading online, yet church services still look remarkably similar to before the Internet revolution.
Theory is nice, but maybe we should put this into practice. If people are interested, then let’s host a “church service” on Google plus.
Leave a comment below if you are up for the challenge.
Paul Clifford (@PaulAlanClif) says
What about when you’re trying really hard to follow Jesus, but your thinking is messed up? Sometimes you just need a leader to grab you by the collar and say, “Don’t you see what you’re doing isn’t right?” Nothing prerecorded can speak to your exact situation and hold you accountable like that.
Chris Wilson says
I would have included that under “caring” as if people really care they will kick each other up the backside and hold them to account. Do you agree with the general premise that the core skills needed for a parstor have changed (or even just could be different)
Eric Dye says
I would agree with that, Chris. We have so many teachers, evangelists, prophets and apostles acting in the role of pastor.
Matt says
I would argue that even with the new generation of churches, people still need leaders. The modern, newage church is often centered around comfort and entertainment just to get people in the church. Yet we still have a large presence of traditional and semi-traditional churches. Regardless of what type of church an individual prefers to be in, the mission and role of the church should be the same. With the Great Commission, Christ called his disciples to go and make disciples of their own and spread the news of the Gospel and the Glory of God to the ends of the earth. Churches aren’t just about preaching and singing, they are tasked with making disciples and leading people to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ for the Glory of God.
Using the power of social media to spread the message is great, but that is only a small portion of what churches represent. As a Christian I should strive to be a disciple to Christ, but as a church member, I gain encouragement, support, and accountability among other things. If someone wants to create a social media ministry, that is great, but that person or group of people must maintain roots solidly planted in the foundation that Jesus laid for us.
Keep in mind that anyone can serve in the ministry in some aspect, but not all are called to fill the role of a pastor.