This past Sunday was my last as campus pastor at our church’s Washington Township location.

In last week’s blog I identified six surprising things I’ve learned as a campus pastor:

1. Pastoral ministry possesses an invisible pull to the micro (tactical) at the expense of the macro (strategic)
2. The culture outside of church and inside of church has radically changed
3. Engagement is a more reliable indicator of organizational health than attendance
4. Great preaching and powerful worship aren’t the magnets they used to be
5. Your leaders want and need regular face time with you
6. Simple is better

Pastoring in 2017 is not the same as it was thirty years ago. With that in mind, here are six more insights gained during this past year as a campus pastor:

Pastoring comes with a unique feeling of weight/pressure

I remember clearly within thirty seconds of saying “yes” to the invitation to be the campus pastor over a year ago, I felt an immediate weight pressing on me. I remembered that weight from my lead pastor stint many years ago.

When asked to describe this feeling of weight and responsibility, it’s difficult to explain it to someone who’s never been a lead pastor. It’s this mysterious sense of pressure. It kind of feels like the lead vest placed on you during x-rays at the dentist’s office. Within thirty seconds of the end of our last Sunday as lead pastors at the campus, the weight lifted.

I can’t fix people

Ultimately, only God can fix people. But even He only can if they let Him. If you’re a lead pastor whose ministry is built around trying to fix people with deep dysfunction, chances are you’ll be a frustrated leader. You’ll probably never get around to your real assignment: Vision development and casting; planning and strategy, pouring into your leaders, and preparing great messages for your people.

How people find Jesus now is much different than it was 30 years ago

A good friend of mine stated recently that reaching people in a post Christian culture is measured in years, not months. The old pattern I came to Christ under went something like this: Exposure to the gospel. Acceptance of the gospel. Assimilation into the church. Engagement on a team. Today’s pattern looks more like this: Engagement. Assimilation. Exposure. Acceptance. The way people come to Jesus has changed pretty dramatically. Understanding this reality turns our evangelism approach from thirty years ago on its head. Finding Jesus seems to be more of a journey than ever before.

Millennials are awesome

They’re wide open to mentoring if shown some love and authenticity. They seem to respond to a big challenge. Our worship team leader is 22 years of age. The majority of her team is younger. Watching them develop and grow has been one of my greatest joys. Working with millennials has been a blast.  In some ways, they’ve brought me back to my youth pastoring roots.

I’ve noticed millennials seem to value voice and receptivity above all else. When a church forges ahead without ever asking for their input, they feel like the church doesn’t value their opinion. They wonder why they should serve in a place they cannot influence.

Irrelevance threatens us all – The best leaders have a knack for knowing what’s ahead, and positioning their church to take advantage. One of the greatest risks to future success is today’s success. Because our culture is changing at lightning speed, failing to adapt our methodology accordingly will leave the church in the dust. Refusing to innovate around how we package the timeless Gospel message will diminish our voice in a culture with an increasingly shorter attention span. The major sports leagues: NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA—are all looking at ways to shorten the length of their games due to people being increasingly unwilling to sit for hours watching. The church should pay attention to this trend.

People still respond to loving leadership

Several months ago, one of our older church attendees stopped me during our service’s greeting time and stated: “Pastor, I have a complaint. It’s too cold in the sanctuary!” My response: “Oh I’m sorry about that.” I gave her a big smile and a hug, and then did nothing about the room temperature. I knew if we adjusted thermostat for her, others would complain it was too hot. We’ve not touched the thermostat since then, and she’s never complained about it again. I wonder: was the room temperature the real issue? Or did she just need thirty seconds of face time with her pastor? I’m leaning toward the second explanation.

If one thing has not changed in thirty years, it would be this final insight. People still respond to leaders who genuinely care about them and who express love and appreciation to them regularly.

 

Pastoring seems more complex in 2017 than it did thirty years ago. Society is more dysfunctional and less biblically literate. Competition for our people’s time is at an all-time high. Things are changing faster than ever. And yet I feel hopeful. God is not wringing His hands in despair. He has a great game plan for the Church in 2017. And He’s willing to share it with us if we’ll pause long enough to listen to Him, and then do what He tells us to do.

Pastors, more than ever, I respect what you do for a living.

I’m rooting and praying for you!