What is pastoral leadership? What do pastoral leaders have as their predominant focus? Is it the responsibility of pastoral leaders to focus predominantly on the spiritual needs of the people? To answer these questions, a clear definition of pastoral leadership is needed. Voluminous literature, from a variety of traditions and disciplines, has attempted to arrive at this definition. Engaging with this literature and examining respective world-views, this paper seeks to arrive at a biblical definition of pastoral leadership and engages with the assigned statement. Alternative historical definitions of pastoral leadership are examined first. Second, the problems with non-biblical definitions of pastoral leadership are highlighted.Finally, a biblical definition is offered in which four key responsibilities are discussed and a conclusion is drawn.
Alternative historical definitions of pastoral leadership
Pastoral leadership definitions begin in the biblical period. The Old Testament narrative gives an important shepherd metaphor to the role of pastoral leaders, an agrarian image that is further extended and built upon in the New Testament.[1] However, during the second century A.D alternative views arose and the simple shepherding metaphor was replaced by a more complex institutionalised view of pastoral ministry.[2] Ecclesiological institutionalism gave rise to fourth-century sacerdotalism, a belief that propitiatory sacrifices for sin require the intervention of a priest.[3] This mediatory shift (where clergy become the mediator between God and man) had a direct bearing on the nature of pastoral ministry. As a result, Christian leaders began to emphasise the importance of hierarchical priesthood over the spiritual needs of the people. During the medieval period, further detours developed as monastic approaches to pastoral leadership encouraged ministers to pursue a life of celibacy, while simultaneously the church “plunged into deeper political involvement”.[4]
Consequently, pastoral leaders became increasingly individualistic and separated from the spiritual needs of congregants and progressively political in their function. The subsequent reformation period brought further alternative definitions of pastoral leadership. Despite accomplishing much good, the protestant reformation “created a crisis in the care of souls”[5]due to “modern pastoral care increasingly limiting itself to individualistic, psychologically orientated techniques heavily influenced by prevailing secular therapies”.[6] This trend continued in the following centuries when psychologist and philosopher William James[7] spearheaded a psychological therapeutic approach to religion and pioneered “the individualistic … psychologically oriented nature of modern pastoral care that has had difficulty finding theological rationale.”[8] As a result, the spiritual focus of pastoral leadership became increasingly psychological and therapeutic. By the 1950s, Freudian’s psychoanalytic theory (which was popular at the time ) had influenced the curriculum of “nearly every Protestant seminary”[9] and had become a catalyst for the adoption of (CPE) Clinical Pastoral Education.[10]During this time the pastoral leader became more akin to a therapist, one “who helps evoke spiritually inclined sentiments in individuals”.[11] Over time, a clinical definition of pastoral leadership replaced a theological one and crucially influenced our contemporary view of pastoral leadership. “Because the base was social science, not theology, the pastoral art was reduced to human skill.”[12] This emphasis on human skill opened the door for the contemporary concept of leadership skill in the realm of pastoral ministry.[13] As a result, pastors increasingly engaged with leadership literature that stemmed from business and organisational worldviews, an approach that meant “business practice replaced biblical precept”.[14]
Contemporary definitions of pastoral leadership now tended towards business and managerial leadership functions. This deviation from scriptural definitions of pastoral leadership influences our current view of pastoral leadership and has caused many evangelical ministers to adopt “nontheological ministry models”.[15] William Willimon suggests pastoral leaders became: entertainment guided media stars, political negotiators, sentimental therapists, busy organisational managers, community activists, preachers, servants and anti-institutional rebels (ecclesiastical entrepreneurs who are busy reinventing the church).[16] Willimon’s candid observations suggest that the spiritual needs of people do not appear to be the primary focus of contemporary pastoral leaders, a view that is shared by other contemporary thinkers. Eugene Peterson thinks pastoral leaders “have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers … preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns – how to keep the customer happy, how to lure customers away from the congregation down the street and how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money”.[17] As a result, John MacArthur believes many pastoral leaders “fancy themselves businessmen, media figures, entertainers, psychologists, philosophers or lawyers”,[18]later adding that these images contrast the scriptural depiction of spiritual leaders.
Problems with alternative historical definitions of pastoral leadership
“Christian leadership is fundamentally theological in its source, substance, and ends”[19] and therefore any definition should be “scripture-based, God-governed, Christ-centric”.[20] Huizing’s assertion highlights the major problem with the aforementioned alternative definitions of pastoral leadership. They are not rooted in a strictly biblical definition. Ronald Kuhl suggests that this scriptural deviation occurs due to the voluminous pastoral literature that refers to “sociology, psychology and business” as opposed to biblical and theological sources.[21] Prime et al. shares this thought, asserting that ministry goals and priorities are often worldly but not scriptural and therefore “it is imperative we take our direction from scripture”.[22] To better understand the predominant focus of pastoral leadership, and to aid the discussion of the assigned statement, it may prove helpful to consult the scriptural narrative.
4 biblical definitions of pastoral leadership
Although the biblical narrative uses several metaphors to help define the role and function of pastoral leaders, in both Old and New Testament biblical narratives, shepherding appears to be the bibles favourite ministerial metaphor.[23] Scriptural evidence to support this appears throughout the biblical narrative: (1) in Psalms 77:20 the Old Testament references Israel’s exodus deliverance and depicts both God and Moses as shepherds, (2) in the New Testament Jesus embodies this metaphor by referring to himself as the “good shepherd” (John 10:11), (3) later, Jesus extends this analogy to His disciples charging Peter to “tend my lambs” and “shepherd my sheep” (John 21:15-17), (4) and similarly, Peter encourages the Ephesian leaders to “shepherd the church” (Acts 20:28) and exhorts elders to “shepherd the flock of God” (1 Peter 5:2). Whittington observes that, in both the Old and New Testaments, “the leader as shepherd … is the preeminent leadership role presented in the Bible … Jesus himself using these images to instruct his disciples on the attitudes and functions of leaders.[24] Tidball agrees, observing that the biblical shepherding metaphor is “the underlining paradigm of ministry” and one that contains “references to the authority, tender care, specific tasks, courage and sacrifice required of the pastor.”[25]
MacArthur affirms this assertion by emphasising the spiritual nature of the biblical shepherding metaphor and crucially defines the theology and practice of pastoral leadership as spiritual shepherdology.[26] As the MacArthur coined phrase suggests, Spiritual shepherdology focuses on the spiritual needs of people and has the individual’s spiritual formation as its predominate responsibility. Beeley points out that spiritual shepherds have a “central purpose … to shepherd Gods people toward their heavenly life with Christ … whilst guiding them through ongoing eternal transformation”.[27] This crucial emphasis on the heavenly, Christ-imitating, transformational nature of spiritual shepherding suggests that pastoral leadership has the spiritual needs of the people as its primary focus. Like shepherds, pastoral leaders spiritually lead, feed, nurture, comfort, correct and protect their flock.[28] Spiritual shepherdology, which is applied exclusively to leaders in the bible[29] is, therefore, a complex multifunctional role. Following a review of theological literature, these complexities can be categorised into four vital biblical functions of pastoral leadership, namely; evangelism, preaching, counselling and spiritual directing.
Evangelism
Classic author Charles Spurgeon claims that “soul winning is the chief business of the Christian minister”.[30] He further asserts that the pastoral leaders “truest reward … is to bring dead souls to life”.[31] This claim suggests that the spiritual needs of the people are pastoral leaders primary responsibility. Manala agrees with the primacy of this spiritual practice and suggests that “the pastor should be a champion of evangelism”.[32] Prime et al. share this biblical view, referencing the evangelistic tone of John 10:16, they state that “a true pastor’s concern is for the other sheep that have not yet heard the Great Shepherd’s call”.[33] To this end, preaching proves to be a great vehicle to help accomplish this spiritual task and seems to be God’s primary way of transforming individuals.[34]
Preaching
Hallock et al. argue that one of the primary responsibilities for “shepherds of the flock is to preach”.[35] Prime et al. share this view, quoting John 21:15-17, they explain that a “shepherd’s priority is to lead his flock into green pastures; and that is his principle task in handling the Scriptures”.[36] Hallock et al. think preaching, as a function of spiritual shepherdology, is crucial because it is linked to the “future spiritual health and maturity of individuals, families and congregations”.[37] As the authors suggest, the practice of preaching is important because it has the spiritual needs of the people as its primary focus. Although preaching is usually directed to congregational crowds, spiritual shepherding should also occur on an individual basis, usually in the form of Christian counselling.
Counselling
Willimon, in his chapter The Pastor as Counselor, suggests that it is “the pastor’s responsibility to reach out to those in need”.[38] He emphasises the spiritual aspect of Christian counselling and argues that “we must recover pastoral counselling as a means of spiritual direction … and catechesis for Christian growth”.[39] Cheong et al. emphasise this, stressing that “any counselling that does not pursue spiritual formation through an intimate relationship with Jesus … is not worthy to be called biblical counselling”. He later remarks that counselees should “look more like Jesus Christ when the counselling is complete”.[40] This emphasis on spiritual formation within biblical counselling suggests that pastoral counselling focuses on the spiritual, not psychological, needs of the people. The pastoral leader as a counsellor is also closely linked to the final pastoral function to be discussed, that of spiritual direction.
Spiritual Directing
Peterson, who promotes the term spiritual director, suggests that “the work of spiritual direction is essential”.[41] He defines spiritual direction as an aspect of ministry that uses the small insignificant issues of life as tools for Christian discipleship, or as he suggests, “the mixed random material of life becoming the raw material for high holiness”.[42]Spiritual direction includes giving spiritual advice during unplanned conversations, teaching people to pray, promoting spiritual disciplines (bible reading, prayer and obedience)[43] and “guiding the formation of a self-understanding that is biblically spiritual instead of merely psychological or sociological”.[44] Peterson argues that spiritual direction and focusing on the spiritual needs of the people is the primary biblical function of pastoral leaders and “is the pastor’s proper work”.
Conclusion
What is pastoral leadership? What do pastoral leaders have as their predominant focus? Is it the responsibility of pastoral leaders to focus predominantly on the spiritual needs of the people? Having examined alternative historical definitions and respective world-views of pastoral leadership and having considered the problems with theses definitions, this essay has attempted to arrive at a biblical definition of pastoral leadership. Pastoral leadership is a multifunctional spiritual shepherding role that has as its primary focus the spiritual needs and Christ like formation of people. This essay concurs with the key statement and agrees that pastoral leaders should focus predominantly on the spiritual needs of the people. In addition, it is suggested that the spiritual needs of people are predominantly met through four biblically based spiritual shepherding functions, namely, evangelism, preaching, counselling and spiritual directing. In contrast, the sociological, psychological and business orientated definitions of modern pastoral leadership appear to have difficulty finding theological rationale.
[1] James F Stitzinger, “Pastoral Ministry in History,” The Master’s Seminary Journal 6, no. 2 (1995): 147.
[2] Adolf von Harnack, History of Dogma, vol. 2 (Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock Publishers., 1997), 77.
[3] John MacArthur, Richard Mayhue, and Robert L. Thomas, Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry: Shaping Contemporary Ministry with Biblical Mandates (Dallas: Word Pub, 1995), 42.
[4] Stitzinger, “Pastoral Ministry in History,” 156.
[5] William H. Willimon, Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry, Revised Edition. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016), 169.
[6] Ibid., 171.
[7] William James and Martin E. Marty, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, The Penguin American library (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England ; New York, N.Y: Penguin Books, 1982).
[8] Willimon, Pastor, 172.
[9] Ibid.
[10] CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education), which was embraced by seminaries, relied heavily upon medical, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic techniques in the training of pastoral leaders
[11] Willimon, Pastor, 59.
[12] David Fisher, The 21st Century Pastor: A Vision Based on the Ministry of Paul (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1996), 2.
[13] Roland Kuhl, What Is Pastoral Leadership? A Review of the Relevant Literature and Understandings of Pastoral Leadership at the Beginning of the 21st Century, March 13, 2016, 1.
[14] Derek Prime and Alistair Begg, On Being A Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2006), 50.
[15] Fisher, The 21st Century Pastor, 2.
[16] Willimon, Pastor.
[17] Eugene H. Peterson, Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 1987), 2.
[18] John MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, Rev. ed. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 9.
[19] Christopher Beeley, “Theology and Pastoral Leadership,” Anglican Theological Review (2009),11.
[20] Russell Huizing, “Bringing Christ to the Table of Leadership: Moving Towards a Theology of Leadership,” Journal of Applied Christian Leadership 5, no. 2 (2011): 58.
[21] Kuhl, What Is Pastoral Leadership?, 8.
[22] Derek Prime and Alistair Begg, On Being A Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work (Moody Publishers, 2006), 50.
[23] MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, 10.
[24] J. Lee Whittington, Biblical Perspectives on Leadership and Organizations (New York, 2015), 123.
[25] Derek Tidball, Skilful Shepherds: Explorations in Pastoral Theology (Leicester [England: Apollos, 1997), 54.
[26] MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, 11.
[27] Beeley, “Theology and Pastoral Leadership,” 17.
[28] MacArthur, The Master’s Plan for the Church, 10.
[29] Timothy S. Laniak, Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible, New studies in biblical theology 20 (Leicester, England : Downers Grove, Ill: Apollos ; InterVarsity Press, 2006), 26.
[30] Charles Spurgeon, The Soul Winner (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989), 15.
[31] Charles H. Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, 1 edition. (Prisbrary Publishing, 2012), 170.
[32] Matsobane Manala, “A Triad of Pastoral Leadership for Congregational Health and Well-Being: Leader, Manager and Servant in a Shared and Equipping Ministry,” HTS Theological Studies 66 (December 1, 2009): 5.
[33] Prime and Begg, On Being A Pastor, 61.
[34] Michael J. Quicke, 360-Degree Leadership: Preaching to Transform Congregations (Baker Books, 2006), 17.
[35] Mark Hallock and Timothy Witmer, The Shepherd Preacher: A Practical Theology for Pastoral Exposition(Littleton: Acoma Press, 2018), 13.
[36] Prime and Begg, On Being A Pastor, 51.
[37] Hallock and Witmer, The Shepherd Preacher, 13.
[38] Willimon, Pastor, 173.
[39] Ibid., 174.
[40] James MacDonald, Bob Kellemen, and Stephen Viars, Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling: Changing Lives with God’s Changeless Truth (Harvest House Publishers, 2013), 287.
[41] Peterson, Working the Angles, 153.
[42] Ibid., 150.
[43] MacDonald, Kellemen, and Viars, Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, 288.
[44] Peterson, Working the Angles, 151.