Contemporary pastors are expected to have:
- The entrepreneurial skills of Mark Zuckerberg
- The counseling skills of Dr. Phil
- The organizational abilities of Stephen Covey
- The authenticity of Oprah
- The compassion of Mother Teresa
- The courage of William Wallace
- The humor of Jon Stewart
No pastor will meet all the characteristics that people want in a pastor. However, the clearer the thinking about what is needed and wanted will greatly help in the selection process. Based on the most recent online Sunridge survey here is a list of what survey respondents said they desire in the permanent lead pastor:
- Sunridge wants a Bible preacher who approaches teaching Scripture systematically. You also want that preaching to be practical, focusing on what people need to grow in their Christian faith.
- Clearly, a pastor who is a people-person is desired. At every option, survey respondents made this clear. Sunridgers want a pastor who is good with people and, more than anything else, interested in helping people.
- Sunridge desires a lead pastor who will truly lead the congregation, but who is a team player. Sunridge has a well-developed Elder Team who want and need to be part of this leadership team.
- Sunridge desires a lead pastor who is practical in his orientation. People want him to understand both how and why things work the way they do. “Pie-in-sky” is not the desired style.
- Sunridge desires a pastor who genuinely enjoys being with people and is enthusiastic, but not manipulative.
- While people at Sunridge appreciate a high pace, you want a pastor who still has time to listen when appropriate.
- The church would like a pastor who is a careful planner and who is careful with details—the gift of Administration. If he happens to be good at financial planning, that would be a bonus.
No pastor will be able to do all these things well. However, it is invaluable to have considered in advance what is really important to the Sunridge church family.
I agree that no one person, is perfect, but we do want a humble, strong in leadership, heart for the word of God! Help teach us our role as members of His body, keeping in contact with all the needs of the Church, Know at all times, what is going on everywhere. Being personal with us is humbling……greeting us esp. at the end of our Services, is a respectful & heart warming time for him to get to meet all of us too. I love that Pastor Greg does this…..I will miss that when he leaves us.
I want the pastor that has a clear calling to serve God through our particular body at Sunridge.
He really needs to be courageous in the sense that he will fear God more than man. We will need someone who is a peace maker and not a keeper. The Israelites never liked the words of the prophets, but it was the word of the Lord and the prophets would not back down from that. We need a pastor who is not afraid to speak the truth, but of course always do it out of love as our Savior did and does.