4 Ways to Freak Out Your Senior Pastor

Josh on January 19th, 2009

We once did a seminar at a conference here called Senior Pastor: Friend or Foe? Unfortunately, it was a really popular one. That has to change for youth ministry to thrive in the church. So do you want to really get to your senior pastor this week? Take on one of these challenges and see what happens:

Take him/her out for lunch – even if they say no, you still at least get credit for the ask. But better yet, if they say yes you get the chance to spend time communicating and developing that all-important relationship with the leader of your ministry. Bonus: they will probably pay for the meal, too.

Spontaneously buy them a gift - when your senior pastor walks into their office, they’re greeted by voicemails, a mountain of email and a list of items to repond to all with varying urgency. A little gift from you, the more personal the more meaningful, could get them off to a good start. Even something little could be really big.

Invite them to speak in youth group – I secretly wonder if senior pastors dream about speaking in youth group and leaving adults behind – I’ll bet they do. Sometimes they’ll drop by for no reason, and I think it might be to check to see if you’re still around or if you’ll let them have a shot. It would be tragic for the only time the senior pastor enters the youth room is when there is a problem. Ask him/her to fill in for you sometime, maybe to cast the vision of the church and how students fit into that plan.

Offer to teach “big church” so they can get away with their spouse – Your senior pastor wants to get away, but he/she doesn’t as much as they should. Offer to give them a break and you take over the service. Either run a student service that weekend and show what the students are capable of, or highlight what God is doing in your ministry (either way, make a pitch for volunteers, too).

Freak out your senior pastor this week!

JG

Leave a Comment

Brian at 7:04am January 19

Yea – We (my wife and me) bought the senior pastor wife flowers, and we got a talking to in his office. Telling us that the thought was nice but we didn’t have to.

Paul Loeffler at 10:27am January 21

Your ideas are great. I’ve got an excellent relationship with my senior pastor and we enjoy sharing the pulpit. He does struggle to give it up just to spend time with his wife, but at least I offer. A thought from my struggles – Those first two sound good, but they only work if the church pays you enough to pay the bills first. I’d like the opportunity to take my wife out to lunch some day. Yeah, there’s a little pain there, but God’s working on that.