Transforming People and Communities: The Work and Art of Pastoral Leaders

The term “transformational leadership” is much used, and perhaps has lost its sense of coherent meaning within church circles. It seems that there are programs and academies on transformational leadership everywhere. For example, the congregation in the Rocky Mountains that formed me for leadership hosts its own Adaptive Leadership Academy every year but has opted for the term “Adaptive” rather than transformational to place distance between itself and the confusion that comes from the overuse of such a term. I get this. In the marketplace of faddish buzz, it is easy to dismiss “transformational leadership” as more hype in an over-marketed culture.

But I don’t want to throw the term away. We in the church are confronted with the reality of sin and brokenness in the world, and try as we might, we never move from one point to another where there is significant change in the transition without something supernatural occurring. God is in the process and he must have his due. This is no mere evolutionary adaptation (though with all due respect to those who formed me, I understand the significance behind their use of different terminology and do not discount this rationale or them or what they are doing; we are on the same page). But the truth is that transformation as metamorphosis connotes a total change that may happen through us, but not ultimately because of us or by us.

In my thinking, transformation applied to leadership is the humble art of moving people from the story of the world (one that celebrates death, nihilism, a disconnect from God, materialism, humanistic me-ism, spiritualism, therapeutic salvation, and nation-state patriotism) into the story of the cross and resurrection of Jesus (the story of life in the midst of death, of the God who claims against all odds, all sin, and all brokenness for the life, wholeness, and redemption of the cosmos). Moving from the world’s story into Jesus’ story is painful. Much of who we are and what we value will be put to death so that Jesus can raise up a new creation in us. This is why I hesitate to throw the word transformation out. It’s what happens to us when Jesus gets a hold of us. It’s what happens when Jesus breaths his Holy Spirit on our communities. Fearful people become Spirit powered and alive when Jesus breathes in their midst.

Those of us who have the privilege and consternation of pastoral leadership know that we are never responsible for the transformation of communities. When it happens, it’s because God is leading the dance, guiding the vision, and empowering the change.

And yet, God calls us to participate in the work of transforming communities. The work comes to us honestly; we are the primary story tellers and reality builders in the communities we serve. If transformational leadership is the art and practice of moving people from the story of the world into the story of the cross and resurrection, then we play a central and significant role as channels through which the Holy Spirit can work. This should humble us and challenge us; and I hope as well…invigorate us.

So if a pastor is (and s/he should be) a facilitator of this process of transformation, then what Peter Steinke says about leadership is true:

· All good Christian leaders must have two aptitudes:

1. The ability to tolerate great amounts of pain in themselves.

2. The ability to tolerate great amounts of pain in others.

Asking people to be bitten by the cobra of Jesus Christ, to experience death, and to trust that there is new life on the other side of it is a risky business. To be sure, most will choose not to make the journey. And yet, as “unleashers of the Good News of the finished work of Jesus’ cross and resurrection,” this is precisely what we’ve been called to do. We are spiritual mid-wives. We facilitate the death of the old life and birth of the new in people and communities.

If you find the leadership section in any large bookstore, you’ll be surprised by the number (and overall quality) of leadership materials available. The topic of leadership has been perhaps over-written. But I think there’s value in each of us putting to paper/screen what it is we think about as we approach this holy work of leading Jesus communities. Over my past five years of training (especially during my time of contextual education at a congregation in Littleton, Colorado) and now as a full time solo pastor in a mid-size church, I’ve thought through a working list of essentials. The things that have come home to me as critical and empowering ways of being in this ministry as a mid-wife are:

A Vision. In our human frailty, we never have a perfect sense of the topography of the future ahead. But leadership is about listening, praying, and dreaming the future God has in mind for God’s people. If you can’t describe for people where it is God is taking them, you’ll never get them to move. For us as leaders of Jesus people, this is given to us already though in part—we will always have to work to contextualize the vision in the communities we are called to serve. Our vision is framed by the doorway of the empty tomb and the Lord Jesus who stands on the other side of it proclaiming God’s shalom, his reign, and the fullness of his forgiveness and reconciliation given freely and decisively to us.

B It is my calling to make people uncomfortable—to help them move. The gospel challenges how we order our lives and the destructive, life bleeding-killing pacts that we make with the world. Jesus tells us that he has come that we might have life and have it in abundance. He meant it! But that doesn’t mean that coming to that abundant life isn’t going to hurt, challenge, and change us. My wife and I used a mid-wife to help us bring our second son, Ephraim, into the world. What made this experience different than that with our MD the first time around was the coaching. She helped us prepare for the stages of delivery, helped Erin to know what to expect, that there would be pain and the type of pain, but that she could get through it, on her own and without the aid of medication. She helped us both see birth not as a medical condition to be treated, but as a natural, beautiful, life-process to be worked with. The paradigm shift was profound. Pain becomes a different animal with the shift in paradigm. It is a sign post on the way to the birth of something new! And it won’t last forever.

C People will tolerate pain and discomfort if they understand what it is for. It all goes back to that “vision thing!”

D The “Main Thing,” must be the “Main Thing!” The primary task of pastoral leadership is to keep the body of Christ focused and faithful to the mission and vision held in trust by the people. Period.

E Conflict isn’t bad or innately destructive. What is important is who we are in relationship to it—specifically, how we manage our anxiety in the presence of it, and at times, how we orchestrate it.

F Environment matters and I as a pastoral leader am a prime creator of this. Is the environment permission giving and empowering? Does it encourage people to fly? Or does it tie lode stones around people’s necks that prevent God’s gifts and fruits from coming to maturity in them?

G Chaos is ok. In the creation of anything new, first there is a formation, and then the storm as the system seeks order and rhythm, then the norming as the system finds it, and then, when everything finally clicks—the performing…the music making. Most people and systems never get to performance because of fear of the storm!

H Clarity of communication and meaning is essential. Communication can make or break a system.

I Follow through is mandatory. If you say “yes” to something, then mean it. And let your “no” be “no!” There is perhaps no greater disparager and disempowerer of systems than a leader who doesn’t keep his/her word.

J As the saying goes, 90% of life is showing up. How much more so in the ministry of our Lord Jesus—because we represent him. Showing up doesn’t mean that you just physically show up. All of you (heart, mind, and soul) has to show up. A ministry of true presence is perhaps the most transformative tool we have in our arsenal.

K Invest, invest, invest! The task of leadership is throwing sparks and fanning flames, and doing so until what you have set alight burns on its own. God made us as Christians healthy viruses! If we aren’t replicating the gospel and passion for it in others, we aren’t doing what God has in mind for us to do. But for those of us who lead congregations, we can’t accomplish the task of spark throwing and fanning with the coercive arm of power. Notice Jesus who is our example. He led from below, at people’s feet, serving and acting for others out of love. People follow Jesus not because he is coercive, but because he loves them. And because he loves them, he has authority over them. All leadership flows first from love…a love that throws sparks and fans flames.

L Transformation should be the “rule” of the people of God, and not the exception. Jesus is in the business of transformation, though most of his body acts as if this isn’t the case. Applied to pastoral leadership, this means that if we aren’t questioning, challenging, building community and resonance, holding people in the story of the cross and the empty tomb, encouraging, and energizing those we’ve been given to serve and lead—inviting transformation and beckoning to a new way of seeing and being in the world—then we’ve become the church “club” that has plagued the people of God since Jesus’ ascension into God’s future, and not the movement God has always had in mind.

M As a pastoral leader in the church, I am called to excellence and integrity and to my very personal best. Because God has given me his best, I respond with my best out of joy and pleasure at the magnanimity and love of the Creator. We as Christ’s body are called to be a church of the maximums (maximum love, abundance, joy, hopefulness, generosity, faithfulness, and expansive vision)—because the tomb is empty. But often, Christ’s body today functions as a church of the minimums (in fear, resentment, jealousy, covetousness, myopicity, and insularity). However, this is not my call…

N I am called to dream big for God and his kingdom. I serve the Creator of everything—the one who makes the dead alive again!

O Details matter! You will find God there, and God will find others when they are attended. And when they are not, opportunities are often lost.

P This call to ministry is a privilege and not an entitlement. I serve at God’s behest and not my own and ultimately even the church’s call is subordinate! And yes, the two, in our world, are often not synonymous.

Q Most churches and systems are held hostage and made stagnant by an amorphous, “they.” But leaders don’t lead by kowtowing to the demands of a small group of controllers. They lead by staying on mission guided by the vision. Mission and vision define decision making for the future of the church, not the anxiety of a controlling few.

R Our congregations are not the enemy. They are an embarrassment of riches through which God is witnessing his transformative life, love and power to the world. They should be treated and honored as the precious gems they are, and challenged commensurate with the great wealth of gifts placed by God in their midst.

S Character matters. A lack of it disqualifies a Christian leader from ministry and can create Titanic, unwarranted and unnecessary pain in congregations. On the other hand, the presence of it empowers, lifts, and vitalizes congregations.

T Tithing matters. The biggest idol in American life is money. The best pastoral leaders in our culture lead with their pocket books. There is no divine dispensation that precludes us from fiscal generosity simply because we serve God's people. Get over it!

U The last thing is the most essential. Good leaders are first and foremost good followers. If we aren’t following Jesus ourselves, seeking him, trusting him, talking and walking with him, and ourselves relocating our lives into the story of his death and resurrection, it is very hard to engage others authentically in this process. It all comes back to the Main Thing; Jesus and his work are and ever will be the Main Thing.

These are the things I’ve internalized as ways of being and thinking with regards to my role as Pastor. This thinking in me is forming and reforming, but works as I reflect on where it is I am and where it is I am going. I hope that you find something useful in this as well.

Peace to you all, and Spirit led leading wherever and however this finds you…

Nathan Swenson-Reinhold
Lead Story-Teller, Discipler, and Ministry Equipper
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
Bloomfield, Nebraska