What is the Pastor’s Job?
Congregations have expectations of pastors. That is normal and should be expected. In some cases, there is a very specific job description such as with a youth pastor, an executive pastor, an outreach pastor, and so on.
But what about the pastor of a small church who does not have a staff of pastors?
I suspect that each congregation has its own unique expectations, partially dependent on the context in terms of location and the makeup of the congregation.
The assumption of course is that the pastor will preach and lead in worship (whatever that may look like). But what else?
Many would also include visitation. But even that is not clear. Is visitation about visiting the sick in hospitals? Is visitation about visiting every person in the congregation in regular rotation? Is visitation about visiting as a means of evangelism?
The question that really has needs to be asked is: Who does the ministry? Is it the pastor who does the ministry, with the church receiving the benefits of it? Or is it the pastor training and equipping the congregation to do the ministry?
Different congregations will have different responses to that question. Probably within a small church context, the best situation would be somewhere in the middle.
The truth is that in many churches, the specific expectations of a pastor’s role is not always clear. Even within one congregation, different members will have different expectations.
The pastor’s job is not just a list on a piece of paper. It is a dance between the pastor and the congregation, one that remains stable in many ways and that changes in other ways.
One piece of advice I would give is for pastors and congregations to have grace and patience with another.
