God want His church to grow.
Pastors have many roles to fill. Much is expected from them. Some think of pastors as "super Christians". Pastors are expected to motivate, coach, and envision this growth.
As a motivator they are expected to give members a reason or incentive to do something, to make members feel enthusiastic, interested, and committed to something, to be the reason for something that the membership does.
As a coach, on the other hand, is the person who instructs in a particular subject, a trainer of sorts, such as one who trains athletics.
The Pastor must envision. This means to form a mental picture of something, typically something that may occur or be possible in the future. In this case, growth of the church, growth in maturity of the people.
We, members, administrators, and pastors alike need to develop a conviction, that is, have a firmly held belief about growth of the church in all aspects and about the Pastors role. If you do not believe in or have conviction about what the leadership is doing, no one else will either.
It's His Will and His command that His church is growing. He doesn't want it to stop growing!
Not only growing in numbers but in maturity, growing in knowledge, growing in witnessing skills.
People are going to hell without Jesus Christ. The Church must keep growing to prevent this.
Christian maturity is only achieved in one and only one way: Walking and communicating with God.
Knowledge is achieved by digging into His word, the Bible. Obtaining knowledge is no easy task and requires hard work and effort.
Witnessing skills are obtained by witnessing. No reading about them, not going to class; but only by practice. Practice and believing in what you are doing. If you do not believe fully in what you are saying, no one else will either. People are not stupid; they know when you are authentic.
The Pastors role
the primary, most important; that is, the first in the sequence of roles a pastor plays is to be a leader. And the primary leader of the Church is the Pastor. A leader is somebody whom people will follow: somebody who guides or directs others. A leader is the one in charge of others. If the Pastor is the leader, the followers must submit to him, not hinder or obstruct him or cause him grief. They must treat him as a leader, not a target.
Church growth depends on its' leadership skills.
When a person has skill they are said to have ability to do something well this ability to do something well is usually gained through training or experience. Leadership skills include but not limited the ability to communicate the vision of the Churches to the future member’s. Communication involves the exchange of information. Communication takes place by giving or exchanging information through speech or writing. Leadership involves the ability to motivate the church with messages given to the Pastor by the Holy Spirit. Of course this requires the Pastor to be consistently guided and in-touch with the Holy Spirit. Leadership is about being and doing, and cannot be separated from authenticity.
Authenticity or genuineness involves the truth of something. The truth of and about God shakes the foundations of one's being. The congregation will be shaken from complacency with the possibilities of God through realization His genuineness. The Pastor must communicate to the congregation the Authenticity of his message.
Time management is a discipline.
Effective leaders have time to communicate with God.
Time must be given to pastor for this purpose. Effective leaders know where their time goes. Effective leaders are good time managers. Leadership also equips others for ministry. Management means to administer something. That is to be in charge of something and be responsible for its smooth running. This does not mean that time is in charge of the Pastor. He is to be in charge of the time he is given.
Sometimes church members see their pastor for only once a week and for only an hour. Little do they know that pastors have an in no time off life. Some people seem to thrive on disorderliness, but non planning leads to unhealthy stress. Health problems, and burn out. Pastors owe it to themselves to have an effective, efficient ministry. By effective I mean one producing intended result: And the key to an effective and efficient ministry is time management. Ministry will not be effective unless it is well organized. This means being well organized. By being organized the pastor performs tasks in an organized and capable way.
Time management is a discipline. The pastor's schedule should not be based upon the needs of church leaders and members. To do so would result in disarray. The pastor's schedule should be based on personal call to ministry. God has a purpose for his life. He must use time as a tool to pursue God's specific purpose for his life. The pastor time must be based on his personality. Part of his personality is his spiritual giftedness. Assign tasks to people who can do those best. The Pastor doesn’t need to be personally involved in every task and every decision. Time must be reserved for activities that advance the vision the pastor has for his church. It goes without saying that this vision is God given.
Sometimes pastors try to satisfy every ministry need. This will wreak schedules. Pastors spend too much time pursuing things that would run well with out him. Pastors sometimes spend too much time "majoring in the minors," such as checking the air conditioning or checking the classified ad in the paper about the church. These things can be left to some one else. Pastors let church members put too much pressure to be accessible at all times.
Stephen Covey, http://www.stephencovey.com/, says we must begin with the end in mind. A church and a pastor need to have a sense of vision, mission, and strategy—a map of progress and development to influence and change people's lives. To achieve the larger goals and objectives, time management starts with at least an annual perspective. Then it shifts to a set of quarterly tasks, which translate to monthly, weekly, and daily activities—in that order.
Leaders know their own spiritual gifts and must know how to employ them to their fullest. Leaders know the primary spiritual gifts of those around them. Leaders know how to put these gifts to work.
Organize around the gifts of people
It is a necessity to organize around the gifts of people in the congregation.
Organize around the gifts in the congregation allows the church to focus on the things at hand. If it is not organized in this way, the focus will always be on mending tears caused from the misuse of the gifts of God. A gifts-based focus encourages teamwork. The structure built on gifts and talents within the church promotes creativity, and allows for rapid growth. Gods’ call is always an invitation to faith/ believes, that works in a real world.
The Pastors office
Staffing the Pastors office is important. Pastors will be working closely with the staff. First in the staff should be generalists; those people who can do anything that needs to be done. They are definitely “Jack of all trades” and usually the master of most. Off course there will also be room for specialist as well. The staff must have miniual qualifications. They are to be patient, planners, forgiving, and longsuffering.
Respond to criticism
Leaders are to take attacks seriously because lies and slander against them and their ministries
Will hurt, confuse, and undermine the faith of those under their care.
However, do not be controlled by the criticism. Criticism is inevitable. Respond to critics in your own time, not the critic's demand. Respond positively when you need to respond. To speak positively is not to shrink back from confrontation, or the need to rebuke the critic. Take initiative in a friendly interaction. Passages in the Bible clearly teach that the proper procedure in dealing with critics is first to speak directly to the person involved. Doing this is best done in person or a very thoughtful letter. The primary reason for personally approaching the person is that the pastor might be in the wrong. The critic may not be wrong.
Refuse to enter publicly debate that might bring division
Constantly evaluate the progress that is made. What did work, and why did it worked? When did it work? When did it not work? What could have been improved, and how could it be improved even more? Take a regular and honest look at what is going on in the church and where the church is going. Walk in faith with God’s purpose.
Faith is lived the just shall live by faith, faith is hearing and obeying. Faith is a response to Gods prodding. Righteous people live by hearing and obeying God’s words given to them through the Holy Spirit. Whatever is not of faith is sin. The Christian’s spiritual journey begins with faith and continues with faith. Your faith grows as you become sensitive to the Holy Spirit, hearing God’s words spoken in your heart, and then through obedience and perseverance see the great results of walking in faith. When you are sensitive and obedient to God’s words there will be evidence of your faith. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2:26)
Living your faith will lead you to lead others in faith. Study the progress made, but do not try to study every detail. If you try to study everything you'll end up with the paralysis of analysis. Decide to track three or four significant numbers such as Baptisms, attendance on Wedensday nights, amounts of gifts coming into the offerings or attendance on Sunday nights, and gage things from there.
The evangelizing church
Above all, do not forget the great commission:
But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” New American Standard Bible Matt 24:16-20