Regardless if you have a board, session, or deacons who serve in some sort of leadership capacity in your church, the essence of church leadership is about serving. Now, I understand there are differences between church traditions in how you define the role of elders in your church, and that’s all good. The second group of people who are called out to care for the Church are elders. What is more, the Bible does not say that only pastors can take care of people. In short, your church-the body of Christ-was created by God to be just that-a body, a family of brothers and sisters in Christ who encourage and support one another to live and love like Jesus. “Bear with and forgive one another” (Col 3:13)įrom a sermon series on this topic to Bible studies about taking care of one another, there are several ways you can encourage your church to serve “one another.” This is one part of cultivating a healthy church culture.“Be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50).In the New Testament, dozens of verses emphasize this point in what’s known as the “one another” verses. This is far from a practical matter-this advice is loaded with dozens of commands from the Bible. Not only do you want to know your church members, but you also want to empower your church members to care for one another. But you’re also called to “especially” care for the “household of faith”-your church members. Yes, you want to help as many people as you can. “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). In writing to the Church at Galatia, Paul said: In other words, when you offer church membership, you provide a way for people to be a part of your church, and for you to know who’s a member of your church (Acts 20:28).ĭoes this mean you can only care for your church members? There are three groups of people who can provide care for your church:įirst, you have to know your church members to take care of them. But as you aim to tend to the needs of your church, you’ll need to focus on building a congregational care ministry.īefore we get into the practical details, let’s take a moment to explore this point since it informs the practical strategy. What I’d love for you to take away is that you should care for your people-but not entirely by yourself.Īs a pastor, you’ll always be in a position to provide care. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make. If so, I understand where you’re coming from. Or you may be thinking, “ Well, that’s not necessary to spend that much time with everyone in my church.” Or, if you’re really a go-getter, you might be able to keep up with this pace for several months without burning out. Sure, you might be able to maintain this for a few weeks. In this example, this means you’ll spend 37.5 hours per week keeping in touch with your church members, hearing what’s going on in their lives, and helping them to live and love like Jesus.Īdd this on top of your other duties, and you have a recipe for a 100-hour workweek. To tend to your people, let’s say you decide to spend 30 minutes with everyone-every week. The Bible doesn’t support this belief, and it’s practically impossible for any single human being to provide care to a large group of people. It’s impossible for one person to provide all of the congregational care. God personally etched this responsibility directly into your job description. But God has called you to shepherd his people (1 Pet 5:2). Practically speaking, you (church leader) are to care for your church in a way that reflects Jesus’ care. Instead, I want to emphasize that Jesus is the leader of his Church and that he takes care of his people through you. Said another way, Jesus is the head of the Church-not you. It’s a part of who you are (identity) and what you do (calling).Īs a church leader, you’re an under-shepherd of Jesus. Pastoral care is a core element of pastoring.
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