The grace of gifted goats

[Brent Kipfer]

I am blessed to serve a congregation with many goats! On the masthead on our Sunday bulletin, there is a designation “Pastor� where my name is listed and another line that reads “Minister – All members.� There is an expectation in the church that indigenous leaders will carry a significant amount of responsibility for ministry. I know that my leadership as pastor is respected. At the same time, there are varying opinions in the congregation about the extent to which the pastor bears greater responsibility than others for the well-being of the church.

Sharing leadership certainly requires an investment of time and energy: teams need coaching, decisions take longer, and outcomes are less predictable. Still, the pay-off is more than worth it. Team decisions are almost always stronger and wiser than what I would come up with on my own, others have the satisfaction of using and growing in their gifts – and our ministry capacity expands beyond my own limits. In addition, I find that sharing responsibility frees me up in a couple of ways:

1) It helps me remember that I am a caretaker – not owner of the flock; having others to share leadership reminds me that the yoke of my Master is easy and the burden is light.

2) It makes it easier for me to practice Sabbath – to get some space from the flock occasionally for spiritual refreshment, study, and ministry challenges in other places. My church is able to free me up for a sabbatical this spring and summer, in part because others have some practice with the shepherd’s staff (and generous denominational sabbatical funding enables the congregation to hire a student pastor while I am gone).