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Question for the Community: Trusting Your Senior Pastor

by Seth Bartlette
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
All, Blog
4 comments

We’re counting on you to help us answer this question from a fellow youth-worker:

Have you ever had an issue with trusting your senior pastor? I have a situation at my church where I love my students, and I want to trust my senior pastor, but there is damage there. Do you have any advice?

Time to weigh in with your thoughts, YMG Team. Help Nathan by commenting below. Thanks!

Tags:Question for the Community

4 comments

1
SuzieTuesday, August 07, 2012 10:55 AM
That would be a hard situation. Without knowing the details of the damage its hard to give input. If possible it would be best to plainly just try and talk things out. I'm blessed with a great senior pastor who encourages us to keep short accounts. So if we have an issue with each other we need to talk it out asap. As a youth director I have to follow the vision and leadership of my pastor. I haven't worked under a pastor I didn't trust yet.. hopefully someone who has been there will respond and help you out!
2
Justin HermanWednesday, August 08, 2012 10:48 AM
Hey Nathan, I want to let you know I have been in shoes that i think are similar to yours. The last church i worked for there was the was a HUGE trust issue. It was so big that in the end, after a lot of prayer i felt God giving me the ok and releasing me from his leadership and God brought another opportunity right to my lap in a way that i knew it was God and not me. That's a little of my story. But my #1 issue was leaving my students so i get where your heart and where my heart was. I was asked by some one a similar question in regards to a senior pastor. This is what i said. 1)Do you respect you SP, is this issue a moral failure, a group of poor choices, is it how he treats you or how he treats other. What kind of leader is he, do you respond to his style of do you feel like your in a cage with no room to move or in a large field with support or direction. Think about the respect thing and create space with him or with elders if need be to discuss it openly. 2) Do you feel you can connect your seniors to him and the church with confidence they will be lead and treated well. The context i was at was very much kids table, adult table. If you have read any Kara Powell sticky faith stuff you know its all about moving to inclusion. If you find yourself feeling it would be better for you students to leave the church to go to another than there is an issue there that needs to be openly discussed. 3) Also, Look past him to you, and this was the hardest for me. There tends to be a dissconnect some times with the SP. Some times cause they are the one who hears all the bad stuff and not enough of the good. Some times they feel treatened a little by the young, dynamic, fun, lovable youth pastor. Assuming he is further in age, and i could be wrong, some older pastors (who are still men BTW) feel a sense of mild jealousy when looking at a young youth pastor on they way in to a life of ministry while they are on the back end of their time serving full time. Now that might not be the case in this, but it is worth some prayer. Think over, how are you in meetings, are you always quick with an idea, do you listen as well as talk. And back to #1 do you respect him. I lost all respect for mine based on one huge decision that i could not support. Once again that was me, not everyone and mostly likley not you. But ask your self some stuff. 4) there is a great book called the Disconnect... http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-adult-leaders-development-the-disconnect.html order it and read it with him if possible. 5) Because i know these shoes, if you want to talk more, share more and i can share more and spend some time in prayer about it together just call me. I would love to encourage you more. 714-600-0354... IM SERIOUS, call any time. Excuse any typos, this is typed with love from my IPhone...
3
Brian SeidelSunday, August 12, 2012 4:56 PM
I wrote about my relationship with my senior pastor on my blog, check it out if you want: http://wp.me/p1wwrA-2i To answer your question, I think you do need to trust your senior pastor. If you don't there is no way you can be working on the same team for the same goal, which is not good for you or him, the youth ministry or the church. Definitely something that needs to be worked through.
4
NathanWednesday, August 22, 2012 10:48 AM
Thanks Guys! The thing that is different about my situation is that there are 2 other pastors on the staff, and none of us trust him. He has made a series of bad choices and we have brought this information to the Leadership Board, and they chose to back him. It is sad, because a little over a year ago, this was a great place to work.