At this moment in the history of ABC-USA churches there are two main styles assumed by Professional Church Leaders. The first style, gathered from the mega-church phenomenon and business, is the CEO. The second style is the Servant Leader. There are ample resources to guide one who seeks the CEO model of leadership. The Servant Leader is the one developed in this description. Our General Secretary has shared his understanding of servant leadership and the need to be centered in Christ. This job description seeks to affirm this important contribution from Roy Medley.
The Servant Leader (or minister) gives direction and supervision to the total program of the church and to this end should keep in close touch with all staff and lay members of the church.
The Servant Leader is pastor, priest, prophet and person who serves as teacher, enabler, model, care giver and guide. However, he or she shares leadership with many other "members" of the Body who also minister to one another and to the world.
Servant-Leadership is a practical philosophy, which supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions. Servant-leaders may or may not hold formal leadership positions. Servant-leadership encourages collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment.
Robert Greenleaf, the man who coined the phrase, described servant-leadership in this way.
"’The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. He or she is sharply different from the person who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve – after leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.
The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, will they not be further deprived?’"
Taken from the Servant As Leader , The web site of the Greenleaf Center for Leadership - www.greenleaf.org
Since each church and each servant leader is unique, every church’s position description would show variance in some areas of leadership and expectations. The educational qualifications for those who are professional church leaders include a college degree and a Master of Divinity degree or its equivalent. Salaries, benefits such as retirement, health insurance, professional expenses such as conference expense, continuing education and time off, will vary in churches of varying size and ability to pay. Such items should be negotiated and agreed upon with the servant leader at the time of employment, and reviewed at least annually.
Responsibilities, accountabilities and opportunities for service need to be clarified with position descriptions for all professional staff persons, as well as with expectations and responsibilities of laity and their mutual responsibilities.
The theme of ministering is found throughout the scriptures. There are functional differences between apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors and the general body of disciples, but the concept of the one body was and is the important image of the church. There is the call of God to the individual to be "set apart" as God’s servant, and there is the validating corporate call of a specific church to the individual to serve in a designated position as servant leader to and with a congregation. Such servant leadership is founded in the teaching ministry, which Jesus provided: prophet, priest and servant. Therefore, servant leaders are servants for our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Servant Leader is:
Accountable to:
the church, corporately, who calls him or her, and
to any board or committee which determines the policy and personnel for the local congregation, such as the Board of Deacons, official board or staff relations committee.
Accountable with:
1. fellow staff members as a team and the congregation as a family for the total ministry of the local church life and the mission to the community and world.
2. the denomination, Region and national leaders and ecumenical groups, for meaningful participation in programs and events and the support of same.
3. the pastoral or staff relations committee for cooperative and effective ministries and relationships.
Accountable for:
1. Priestly services:
Preaching;
Worship leadership;
Administration of Ordinances;
Officiant at weddings and funerals.
2. Teaching services
Teaching (Bible study, membership classes);
Teaching leadership sessions
Evangelistic, ethical or discipleship concerns and issues;
Family life education including premarital preparation.
3. Pastoral Care
Provide care in time of emotional, grief and other times of need;
Visitation (evangelism, home, hospital, nursing homes);
Provide theological and biblical support as Servant
Leader for the administration of the total church life.
The Servant Leader shall:
Assist officers, boards and committees with planning and execution of their tasks.
Coordinate office administration through staff or volunteers for assignments such as central record keeping of minutes, membership records, etc. for all boards, committees and church business meetings as well as reports of church officers.
In cases where there are part time or full time paid staff a team ministry is desired. The servant leader functions as facilitator of the team and will be held accountable for building staff relationships and for delegating ministries performed by staff. All are colleagues in ministry. The servant leader should aid each staff member in utilizing their gifts in the ministry of the church.
The Servant-Leader shall:
Participate in ABC Ministers Council, pledge to its Code of Ethics, and actively pursue those ideals.
Participate in, cooperate with clusters or associations, region and national programs, events and activities.
Cooperate with other local churches in appropriate ecumenical efforts and witness. Be involved in other community agencies and programs.
Support denominational programming and institutions.
The Servant-Leader shall:
Appropriate time for personal reading, research and meditation.
Plan for and complete two Continuing Education Units or equivalence annually.
Take one-month vacation each year.
Have one to two days off each week.
Attend denominational and interdenominational conferences and conventions regularly and encourage other staff persons and members of the congregation to do likewise.
Evaluation in the context of the mutual ministry of clergy and laity is much more than keeping score of successes and failures. It is based upon a clear mission statement and the goals and objectives that grow from that focus of ministry. While tools are helpful in clarifying the performance of ministry they supplement the important face-to-face conversations about the ministry itself. The tools and talk can be a positive and growing experience emphasizing the positive qualities of leadership, the achieving of objectives and the determining of new objectives.
There will be an annual review with team members and staff relations committee. Such mutual appraisal on the part of the servant leader as well as the church leader group can increase effectiveness as well as improve communications. Positions are likely to be rewritten when there are changes in staff.
The Alban Institute has a number of resources that will provide the tools for evaluation and normally the Staff Relations Committee would be the place within which the input from the tools would be examined with appropriate conversation concerning the mutual ministry process. The following resources are available at The Alban Institute web site.
Evaluating Ministry: Principles and Processes for Clergy and Congregations,
Jill M. Hudson, Author. Bethesda, MD: The Alban Institute, 1992.
Based on an understanding of ministry as mutual and collaborative between congregation and pastorate, this book may be used for designing either an evaluation process for clergy already in place or a contract provision for clergy soon to be called.
‘Sharing the Ministry, Jean Morris Trumbauer, Augsberg Fortress
"User Friendly Evaluation", C. Jeff Woods, Author. Bethesda, MD: The Alban Institute, 1995.
User Friendly Evaluation is perhaps the handiest and most comprehensible survey of evaluation techniques and purposes currently available. and purposes currently available.
Click here to download PDF Version.