So, you have a young adult pastor!

This is the time of year in the United Methodist Church when newly emerging candidates will be getting calls from the appointive staffs of annual conferences to be sent to new and first appointments. They wait for the phone to ring, usually in February and March, to be offered an assignment with bated breath. Once the appointment is made, they continue to have visions about what God can do you in your context. They pray that their vision can match the dreams you dream about your church advancing in Kingdom life.

You might be one of the fortunate congregants to get one of these young adult pastors! I’d like to offer a few items of consideration as you welcome this new leader of the flock.

1. The exciting thing about this pastor is that she may be fresh out of seminary, empowered and impassioned with new ideas, concepts and possibilities to let loose on a church. Your embracing of this pastor will give fruit and vitality to her concept of ministry for years to come. Be open to her suggestions. Try new things. Be a fresh venue for her to explore what God has placed in her heart. The real work of congregational ministry is to make room for the vision of God to burst forth and not offer reasons why it can’t happen.
2. Be gentle with your pastor’s heart. Often times congregations expect pastors to be made of steel. Well, 26 years into this life, I can assure you, we are not. Being the subject of gossip, negative dinner table conversation, gang ups, and planned ambushes can deplete the pastor spiritual energy and bruise them beyond your imagination. This can lead to scarring their God given potential for ministry in years to come. Pastor’s hurt too.
3. Be patient with learning curves. Your pastor will not always get it right and he himself will have much to learn. He’ll have to figure out the cultural, ethnographic, theological and social dimensions of your congregation. He’ll also need the time to build teams that can support his vision among you, help him achieve his goals and be positioned for excellece. He’ll also have to learn how to preach effectively in your context. All of these dynamics can take a few years of trial and error. He’ll make mistakes, he’ll rub a few the wrong way (or the right way) and the list goes on. Be patient with his process of development as your pastor. God is depending on you to nurture this leader in a way that they will bear fruit and inspire many to follow Christ for years to come.
4. Remember the pastor may very well be someone’s spouse, parent, son, daughter and sibling. Your congregation wants to have a good witness on caring for the pastor’s well being and not being a destroyer of it. There is a such thing as clergy abuse and this must be addressed. Stand up for the integrity of your church in how it treats its clergy/pastors. This will go along way to you having a growing, welcoming and thriving community of faith.
5. Don’t try to get the pastor “in your pocket” when she enters the door. Before giving her your agendas, give her room to begin and learn. Often times, many who met the pastor at the door with open arms, also had agendas in those arms and eventually would turn from the pastor when those same agendas were not supported. Unconditionally be open to your pastor, without motive and let God take care of approving your agenda or not.
6. Don’t feel discouraged or left out if the pastor seems to connect with young congregants faster and easier. Older pastors often connect with folk in their age group flawlessly as well. This should NOT be a bad thing. This is mere sociology. I assure you your pastor loves you as well. If this is a challenge, try creating an intergenerational team to consult with and secure balance within the parish.
7. There are times and seasons, where your biggest growth area in Christian faith will be developed by having a pastor that falls short of your expectations. Don’t treat this as a business relationship alone. This is an opportunity for you to grow in faith. Pastors are not supersized Christians. They have personalities, quirks, personal growth challenges, and their own issues to overcome. Some of these will be obvious to you and some not. Either way, be slower to judge and always hold your pastor in the deepest of prayer during which time, you will be showered with the grace to sojourn with this fellow believer and benefit from the marvelous gift of Christian reconciliation.
8. Should this appointment not seem to work well, respect the process for these things to be determined. I’ve seen pastors struggle in some places and thrive in others. It’s the beauty of our itinerant system. Make room, without causing war, for evaluations and observations to be made. Even in disagreement, we should model Christian community in the highest way. (The world needs to see this).

In short, this young adult pastor has the potential to do marvelous things in your community. Give her a try. Follow the Spirit’s beckoning and leading. Otherwise, an unwelcoming congregation can deeply place this pastor’s exuberance in dismay, dim her internal light, and discourage her from being all that God has called her to be. This could result in not just your church, but many churches living with the brokenness from an inhibited and traumatized soul whose only hope is to spread joy in the name of the Lord.

Congratulations, you have a young adult pastor! You are blessed! Let the party begin!

The Rev. B. Kevin Smalls, D.Min.

PS. If you don’t get a young adult pastor this time, worry not, the more I typed this blog the more I realized that these suggestions might work well with a pastor at any age.

~ by bkevinsmalls on February 2, 2021.