Team leadership vs. top-down leadership in the church- part 1

(You probably ought to read my disclaimer on the right hand column prior to reading this blog post.)

I read an article yesterday in Leadership Magazine about The Next Level Church that has done away with the concept of having a "senior pastor" in favor of a team approach to ministry. Here is a couple quotes from the magazine:

“Eight years ago TNL Church dispensed with a senior pastor to implement a team leadership model.” Managing editor Skye Jethani of Leadership magazine says “They are not alone. I am in touch with churches from South Carolina to California that intentionally avoid a “senior pastor” in favor of a team model.” TNL’s Dave Terpstra says, “Just because we believe in a flattened structure doesn’t mean we don’t believe in leadership.”

Click here to read the entire article.

At New Covenant Bible Church we have not dispensed with the idea of a senior pastor, but we have embraced the team leadership concept where we are all equals serving in various areas according to our strengths. Our ministry is truly a collaborative operation and lacks that "top-down" CEO mentality of many churches today.

But there are some keys that make this work and I would like to discuss some of these over the next couple of days. Tye out.

P.S. So, why the PC vs. Mac pic? When I think of the top-down authoritarian style leadership I think of people wearing suits and ties, having special parking privileges, and big corner offices. When I think of team style leadership I have a picture in my mind of tennis shoe wearing, backpack carrying, coffee-shop hanging out guys. Whatever. : )