A Leadership Dilema

I love Pastors and I love the Church. So, it is difficult for me not to always be thinking about a bigger picture than the church I lead. That can be dangerous because it can take my eye off the ball, but it can also be God's leading for me to help and be involved. Because I love the church and I think about these things a lot, I have stumbled upon an interesting thought.

In the Assembly of God District where I serve there is a bit of a disconnect between the younger ministers and the older ministers. Overall, I know that we have a very respectful and unified District and I am proud of it. It has been my home for all my life, even in the years before I was saved, this is my land, my country, my roots. But, there is what I would call a temporary and fixable rift between two different generations.

Here is one of the problems, and I have thought it for a long time, and it was proven Monday. We were doing some surveys with our instant response system and did an age survey. The smallest group of people present in the meeting of about 500 voting members and minsters was the 40 to 50 range!

Here is the problem, we have many small towns and many small churches. Some churches stay small because of the problem. We attract many young pastors in their twenties and early thirties to our small churches. They are full of fire, passion, vision and full of the Holy Spirit. They are good leaders gaining great experience. But, when they hit 40, they leave our district or leave to who knows where. People in their 40s need income and security to raise teenagers and growing families. It is a difficult time to take a huge pay cut in faith or to take big risks. A degree of stability must be given to children. Thus, for ethical and personal reasons we loose the pastors who have energy and youth, and also have 15 to 20 years of experience. We have lost some of the connecting generation that can unite the under forty group with the mentors in the 55 plus group.

My church is an anecdotal, but a perfect example. It is a 46 year old church that has had seven pastors, I am the eighth. It has never had a pastor older than 44. Why? In part, the church never grew to the place that they could practically afford a leader with age and experience. I am determined to change this!

I am also determined to change this in our district. I believe that we must teach our church boards and Sectional Committees to recognize this issue. We can fix this. We can do it in love and in faith believing that God will provide. If we will use his provision correctly, he will provide the leadership and unity that we need to thrive.