In the year I was born (1984), the previous pastor at the church I work at now, had already been on the job and had pastored multiple Churches since 1968. By the time I started working with him full-time, he had already been leading our congregation for nearly 30 years and was still going strong. The gravity of his leadership was immense. The respect the people of our Church and the surrounding community had for him was unquestioned. He loved leading God’s people and God’s people loved him.
That’s the scene a new preacher like me walked in on. A young man with no ministry experience and a venerable man with decades of leadership and preaching success.
As I think back on it now, our journey together in ministry was a miracle story only God could have written.
Needless to say, however, there was quite a generational gap. The pastor before me grew up in the 50s and 60s and I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. He was the generation of Beach Boys and Simon & Garfunkel; I was the generation of the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC.
More than that, he was the generation of Heavenly Highway Hymnals and pianos in Church; I was just being introduced to a generation of guitars and worship teams in church (a trend taking off in many Churches).
Not only this, but many of the faithful Church members in our attendance grew up in an era and culture different than my own. Our church had already been ministering for 75 years before I had stepped into any kind of Church leadership. We no longer had any charter members, but there were several members of our church who had been attending longer than I had been alive!
Now, here are some questions for a new pastor coming to lead a decades-established congregation:
What should you do as a young pastor when you are generationally different than the majority of your congregation? How should you view that relationship?
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO AS A YOUNG PASTOR WHEN YOU ARE GENERATIONALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE MAJORITY OF YOUR CONGREGATION?
Let’s add a little more tension:
What should a pastor do if he sees there are changes vital to future growth, but your faithful membership base is quite comfortable with how things are?
What if a young (or new pastor) sees areas that desperately need change, but he is experiencing resistance to change?
How do you navigate something so sensitive as a new pastor in an established congregation that is weary of following you into the ‘greener pastures’ of your insight and vision?
Those are tough questions. I know; I’ve been there.
Here are a few thoughts I have for ways you can make changes and honor heritage at the same time.
Be A Member and a Preacher Before Becoming a Pastor and a Visionary—
First, in my estimation new or young pastors try to come in and change things too quickly. Slow down. If you’re a new pastor, that means you’re a new member, and new members need to learn to assimilate.
Learn the culture of the Church. Learn about the history (good and not so good). Learn the stories from the older members. Learn why certain models were adopted. Learn to love the people. Immerse yourself in the current Church culture. Be a member and first, just try to be a part of the Church for how it is in identity.
Second, just get up there and preach. Get in the pulpit Sunday after Sunday and pour out your heart before God and your congregation. A new congregation needs to be confident in your ability to handle the Word and your willingness to care for the Church as they have before they need your great ideas and vision.
If There Are Things to Charge, Go With the Easy Wins First—
Beware of simply trying to push things through because it’s, “For the good of the congregation.” You have to remember, your faithful base, more often than not, are the ones who put in their own sweat equity to help build that Church. It was their tithe dollars, sacrifice, prayers, support and faithfulness sustaining that Church because they were committed to God’s Program. The truth is, you wouldn’t have an established Church to pastor if it were not for the heritage of the past.
THE TRUTH IS, YOU WOULDN’T HAVE AN ESTABLISHED CHURCH TO PASTOR IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE HERITAGE OF THE PAST.
That said, some changes MUST be made. However, if possible, start with the least controversial and work your way up.
I remember just starting out, I took on an easy “First Impression” project. It was a needed improvement in our street-side flower beds and walkways, so I thought of a way to incorporate physical giving, volunteer service, and future vision all at the same time. That way, we were able to capture the maximum number of Church members as possible and we could all celebrate as a Church for the accomplishment.
It was an easy win. Everyone got to work together and be proud together, and I was able to build some leadership credibility.
Let God Teach You About the Culture of His Church—
When dealing with Church change, lean on God’s wisdom and let Him guide you in what is a needed change or not.
It’s tempting to oversimplify resistance to change as a petty dichotomy of opinion.
On one side you have older members who are conflating the past and keep old practices because they worked once upon a time.
On the other side, you have a young or new pastor who is ignoring or dismissive of the past.
That might be the case in some situations but certainly not all.
Sometimes it’s a true matter of Church culture and a new pastor is losing his mind trying to change something that is in the fabric of the Church’s identity and so resistance is immense!
For instance, what immediately comes to my mind is an attempt to change a music service.
A pastor tries to add a choir.
A pastor will try and take away a choir.
A pastor will try and add or take away certain instrumentation.
A pastor will add or take away a style of music.
And then there’s an explosion over the change.
Another problem I see is in administration of the Church. New pastors often struggle with how their new Church is used to conducting business.
Another common problem new preachers face is in the teaching culture of the Church. A new pastor may be grieved at how Bible studies are conducted.
There are no doubt several other problematic scenarios we could think about together. But my point is this:
Your objective as a pastor is not to figure out how you can necessarily “get up with the times” and change everything you don’t like in your Church. Instead, your objective is to see how God had gifted your congregation and gently lead in a way that highlights their giftedness.
“YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO SEE HOW GOD HAD GIFTED YOUR CONGREGATION AND GENTLY LEAD IN A WAY THAT HIGHLIGHTS THEIR GIFTEDNESS.
Has God gifted your church with an abundance of good or great singing? Perfect! Maybe invest more fully in a choir.
Has God gifted your Church with a large amount of apt Bible teachers? Wonderful! Figure out how to train them and turn them into Discipleship leaders.
Has God gifted your Church with a great heart for giving? Outstanding! Take on some missions projects.
Don’t just make changes for the sake of making changes. Don’t make changes based on your preferences. Make changes based on the culture God has given your congregation and lean into it.
Zachary A. Hatton