You will face surprises in those first few months. Clarify expectations early to minimize them. When they come, don’t panic. And when your enthusiasm and the church’s enthusiasm wanes after a few months, which is inevitable when the ‘new’ wears off, don’t be thrown by that dip. Manage your response with God’s power.
Pitfall # 5. Fire, ready, aim: Overemphasizing quick results.
Sometimes a new pastors feel both a compulsion to do something quickly to prove his or her worth and/or takes too much responsibility for the ministry’s success. It’s natural to both want your church to believe they made a right choice and to put your stamp on the ministry. But trying to make a mark too soon without adequate information and buy-in may turn what seems like early wins into losses. Unless you have clearly defined reality and are listening well, acting too soon in big ways may send you down the wrong path. If you act too soon by focusing on tactics or move in multiple directions at once simply to create movement, you can confuse others about what’s truly important. Should this happen you may be saying, ‘Yes’ to good ideas at the expense of the best ideas. I recommend that new leaders prioritize spending time with key influencers just to listen.
You’ll want to show visible movement during your first six months without wrecking things or losing support. And you’ll want to balance beingwith others with doing ministry tasks. As Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16thpresident said in his inaugural address as the U.S. was sharply divided over slavery, “Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.”[4]
Pitfall # 6. Scaredy-cat: Risk aversion
Minimizing risk and maximizing safety can become an unhealthy trait for leaders. J. Oswald Sanders who authored the bookSpiritual Leadership quoted a Christian leader who noted, “The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.”[5] Great churches can’t play it safe, huddle and cuddle, strive for safety and security, nor guarantee comfort and convenience. While not throwing caution to the wind, great leaders and churches must take bold steps of faith.
Pitfall # 7. People pleaser: Saying Yes to too many things.
Bad stuff happens to new pastors who say Yes to too many things. You can lose control of your calendar. You can work too many hours. Your family can suffer. Stress can become toxic. And ultimately, your walk with Christ and your leadership can suffer.
Saying Yes is easy and saying Nois hard because when we say, No, we almost always disappoint somebody else. And when we disappoint another, at least for a few moments, their disapproving comments or facial expressions can make us feel rejected. And rejection actually hurts because social pain registers in our brain in the same place where physical pain registers.[6] Sensing another’s disappointment in us actually feels bad. That’s why we try to avoid it.
During your first six months it’s important to avoid adding unnecessary commitments to your already full schedule. Remind yourself that you don’t have to say Yes to every invitation or new ministry idea even though each request may initially sound good. Learn how to say No gracefully. This self leadership skill is perhaps one of the most important ones to help you manage your margins early on.
You may want to add other pitfalls for new pastors to this list, but these seven cover some of the biggest pitfalls to avoid in a new church role.
Check out my newest book on on-boarding for new pastors. It’s called Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church Job. It’s available at all on-line retailers.
This article on on-boarding new pastors originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
[1]Angie Best-Boss, Surviving Your First Year as Pastor: What Seminary Couldn’t Teach You(Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1999), pp xi-xii.
[2]Ibid, Kindle e-book loc. 353.
[3]“ARE YOU AN ACCIDENTAL DIMINISHER? |,”accessed April 29, 2016, http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/are-you-an-accidental-diminisher/.
[4]“Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States : from George Washington 1789 to George Bush 1989,”Text, accessed April 18, 2016, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln1.asp.
[5]J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence For Every Believer, New edition (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007), Kindle e-book loc 2820.
[6]Naomi I. Eisenberger, “Social Pain and the Brain: Controversies, Questions, and Where to Go from Here,”Annual Review of Psychology66 (January 3, 2015): 601–29, doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115146.
