I found an interesting list of characteristics and qualities that make a “Great Campus Pastor” and I wondered if they were extensible to the Online Campus Pastor role.
Here’s the list:
- Catalytic leader: High energy, self-starter who not only gets things done, but makes things happen!
- Multi-Tasker: High capacity player able to juggle a lot of balls simultaneously and love it, being ADD helps.
- People Magnet: A relational “animal” who draws people like flies to honey.
- Team Player/Builder: Not a lone ranger, but is able to work within the system and turn followers into teams.
- Communicator: Doesn’t have to be a bible teacher, but is comfortable and articulate speaking to a room full of people.
- DNA Carrier: Bleeds and defaults to the mission, vision, values, and senior leadership of the church.
A similar list was created by Jason Curlee on his “The Role of A Campus Pastor” post:
- Champion The Vision – Probably the most important job of a campus pastor is to champion the vision of the church. One way we can do that is by creating the systems and structure to handle the growth of fulfilling the mission of your church.
- Carry The DNA – It is so important that you don’t drift or stray from who you are as a church. You must fight to always be who your church is. The vision, mission, and values of your church must always be there.
- Build Relationships – If your campus/church is new to the area you are in, one of your primary roles is to build relationships in your area. Whether it is community leaders or those who are attending for the first time, your campus will make a difference based on the relationships you are building.
- Develop Leaders – If the campus is going to be effective, it is going to be because of the leadership team. Developing a leadership team (not just picking out a bunch of leaders) will be crucial to all the campus will do.
- Delegate – You have to delegate everything and every task that anyone else can do. As fast as you can…develop and delegate. Accept that there might be a degradation in quality…but then again…there might not be. If you don’t delegate you will bury yourself and your campus.
- Create a Sunday Experience – Our role is to create relevant environments that will connect people where they are in life with the life flowing power of Jesus Christ. The vast majority of people that visit a church do so on Sunday morning. This is when people will invite those that do not already follow Christ to come.
- Serve Your Community – You’ve come to your community…now it’s time to serve it. What are the unique needs of your community? Ask and then go serve them. Live by the motto, “If your church closed down, would anyone even know or care.”
Do these six or seven traits characterize what a “Great Online Campus Pastor” looks like? What’s missing and/or what doesn’t apply?
[Image from Danorbit]
tonysteward says
I am interested to hear people's thoughts!
tonysteward says
actually here are my two cents – there isn't any different on what a pastor or campus pastor needs to be whether they are leveraging an online service or facilitating one in a brick and mortar in regards to core leadership competencies. They will need have an understanding of how relationships work in their community, and with that being primarily online, they will need some technical and social media proficiencies.
And I think the mulit-tasker /A.D.D. part is actually not a good thing. There is a difference between being distracted and trying to do a bunch of things at once versus the ability to manage a number of projects and relationships. I would take that one off the list. 🙂
I am very sure there are more "thoughts to think about this" but it isn't nearly as complicated as it seems for just that leadership role. (other team roles can be much more diverse though)
Justin Wise says
Tony… Would you say that there is a level of understanding needed for technology? In other words, do you think an online campus pastor needs to have a deeper-than-average understanding of web technologies, Twitter, Facebook, web language, etc.?
Could any good campus pastor make a good online campus pastor?
kennysnow says
I think if any good campus pastor ended up in that role he'd discover those terms pretty quickly! However, if he can surround himself with techie people and delegate those roles it can probably go pretty well until he gets comfortable.
tonysteward says
I would rather have a competent leader than a competent technologist in that role any day. Leadership is essential and can be leveraged to help with the technology side. That said, anyone drawn to a role like this one is going to at least have a basic understanding of the social and technology dynamics at play.
chrissulli says
I think it has to be someone who is not just passionate about reaching people but passionate about doing it online. They have to feel that is there missions field and part of that is having a deeping understanding of the medium and the space. They don't necessarily have to know how everything works (i.e. write their own code) but I think a deep understanding of and familiarity with the space, its pluses and minuses etc. is critical.
chrishill says
I agree. A brick & mortar (or steel & stucco…whatever) pastor doesn't have to have a skillset involving stage design, lighting/sound, video, etc…Both an online pastor and any campus pastor must do one thing very well…….pastor (verb).
Jay says
I agree with Tony. From a real world experience (outside of ministry) I had the opportunity a few years ago to be mentored by somebody who worked as an executive at Caterpillar. He came aboard our small company to act as a project manager for some big things we were doing in the IT department. His knowledge of PC's, hardware and in depth software were limited in that he knew how to send emails and work with basic Word and Excel documents. That being said, because of his leadership abilities and his ability to manage large projects, everything always came together in a very cohesive fashion.
I also agree that somebody who wants to take up a role such as this is going to have a passion for technology and a good understanding of it already and a willingness to learn more. I've never seen a person who couldn't sing, couldn't play a musical instrument or know anything about music theory, pining to be a worship pastor.
kennysnow says
heh…you know, Jay, I have seen some worship pastors like that. It isn't pretty 🙂
Scott M. says
Totally agree that a knowledgeable technologist isn't enough, although I'd steer clear of effective leaders that are afraid of email and blogging.
In any leadership role, online or elsewhere, the leadership ability, gifting, and calling should always take precedence over technical skills.
NicCharalambous says
Tony, agreed on the ADD thing … I think that's often a proxy for smart, competent or driven. It could potentially waste a lot of energy, time and dilute vision if it's not disciplined heavily by a pretty brutal bottom line: Has all this activity online helped drive people to the church and into relationship with Jesus and each other.
chrishill says
Yeah, I think too many people have trouble distinguishing between wasteful busyness and efficient productivity….when you place those two terms side by side, it makes you wonder how one could confuse the two…….. I bet the father of lies has something to do with it.
Kevin says
My thought is that you might want to compare these lists with the Biblical lists for what qualifications a pastor should have.
1 Timothy 3 – http://bit.ly/vKUL4
Titus 1-3 – http://bit.ly/vGqye
Is there anything in the scriptural requirements for a pastor that are missing from these lists? If so there is a problem with the list.
kennysnow says
Good points Kevin, I agree.
vince says
@justin :: I would say that its not required that an OCP be necessarily tech savvy, but it would be inefficiant to not be.
chrishill says
Jason and Tony make good points about delegation and management of tasks. I would change the "multi-tasker" into "multi-task enabler". Also, the spiritual gift of leadership has got to be number 1… (no matter how you word it)
NicCharalambous says
That's a couple of great lists, John. Thanks for sharing them. I think they all ring true, and have found myself slowly discovering what a challenge it is to fire on all those cylinders every week. I think for the ONLINE campus pastor, there is a wrinkle that's worth pointing out: Leading at a distance. I'm realizing there's a special skill involved in leading people robustly when you're interactions are totally online and are frequently shaped by different (sometimes vastly different) church cultures and theological backgrounds … "leading by example" is a very different animal.
Lisa@put-it-on-list says
Although not a requirement, I think an understanding of how online community works is very helpful. I'm not talking about social media / technology here, although that's helpful as well, but understanding the type of people who would be drawn to "doing church" online, how those people tend to relate to others, having a vision for how that plays out and how to minister to that group of people (and being flexible with that as the online church launches and then grows and changes) — all that is vital. Being the type of person who comes across as warm and relatable online is invaluable, both for building teams and for pastoring.
Your lists, plus the Biblical references for pastors, are a great starting point.
Scott M. says
I think the most important aspect of an online campus pastor is the ability and willingness to build leaders. The misunderstanding of online church is that it can be run by one person or a very small team since it's all digital and there's little maintenance compared to 'real' church.
That's just false. The sheer scope of the mission field online necessitates a very very very large team of people. Just because interaction can happen via email or chat or even the social web, doesn't mean it doesn't take lots of time to assimilate those people into the life of the online community that's developing around your online experience.
i understand that there are other needs for an online pastor (multi-tasking, communicator, visioneer, etc) but if a guy can't build a team of skilled, passionate, bought-in people, the online church will never be more than his own group of 'friends' gathering to watch church.
danohlerking says
well put, scott. it all boils down to leadership.
NicCharalambous says
Totally agreed, Scott … and that's really, really, really hard work. Far more challenging than people i think are apt to consider
tonysteward says
very well put scott!
kennysnow says
I don't agree very much with the first two points on the first list, specifically being a "high-energy self starter", and "having ADD". Describing personality traits like that is limiting what God can do with the person He chooses! In fact, I would say that is the number one important characteristic – that God has called them to that role. THAT is the person who will lead the charge, carry the DNA, and so on, because he can't sleep at night dreaming and planning how to accomplish the vision that God has planted in his heart. That might go without saying, but that would be my #1.
The second list fits much better for me, I wholeheartedly agree with Jason Curlee's view on that leadership role.
bdubrecords says
I wonder if Bible literacy shouldn't be higher up on the list…
human3rror says
… word.
geekinstructor says
I would add LEARNER. Being a good leader means being able to say "I don't know" (see Perry Noble's blog http://www.perrynoble.com/2009/06/04/16-questions… Change happens. What we know today is history tomorrow. If we're not willing to be a life long learner, then growth stops, churches die.
Paul Steinbrueck says
I agree with Kevin's comment. Everything in the 2 lists included in this post revolve around capabilities. Everything listed in scripture points to character. Both. If you get someone who is all 10s on leadership, team building, communication but they are not fully surrendered to God, don't love people, or lack humility and your campus is going down the toilet.
I know some people will say it goes without saying that the character piece is necessary, but um, no it doesn't go without saying.
kkcoolj says
I'm interested in your thoughts on what makes a great internet campus experience. Of course the pastor plays a huge role, but what factors are missing? Where's the inefficiencies that tech introduces? What features make it better than in-person sit and soak worship?
ZavRab says
nice job John