Nine Essential Functions of An Executive Pastor

This post was written in 2014. A revised and update post is below.

After serving 34 years as a Worship Pastor (Minister of Music, Associate Pastor of Worship)…the title has changed over the years…God has led me to accept another type of ministry position. The new position is that of Executive Pastor.

For a few years, I had sensed that God was preparing me for this type of role. It was evidenced to me by the variety of ministry experiences God had allowed me to work through and by a passion God has placed in my heart to lead a church staff encouraging, empowering, and holding them accountable to do their best.  I shared some of this in a blog post titled:

Knowing God’s Will Through Transition

As I begin to pursue a new ministry position I set out to clarify my thoughts about and functions of an Executive Pastor. Long before I was ever interviewed for this new role I had compiled the following thoughts.

1. Totally Committed to supporting the Senior Pastor (Exodus 17:11)

When Moses' hands grew heavy, they (Arron and Hur) gave him a place to sit and supported his hands. The Executive Pastor should do this for the Senior/Lead Pastor. The Executive Pastor's first role is to support the Senior/Lead Pastor.

2. Freeing the Senior Pastor to Accomplish What He Does Best  (1 Corinthians 12)

Every believer is equipped for ministry and that applies to both the Executive Pastor and Senior/Lead Pastor. It is the role of the Executive Pastor to take things off the plate of the Senior/Lead Pastor so that he can do what he does best. He then becomes a more effective leader.

3. Alignment with Senior Pastor's and Ministry's Core Values (Proverbs 4:20-27)

The Executive Pastor must talk often with the Senior/Lead Pastor to understand his personal core values and what he sees are the organization’s core values, mission, and vision. The Executive Pastor must then fully support these and communicate them within the organization. The Executive Pastor must also see that all ministries of the church align with the established church core values, mission, and vision.

4. Constant Communication...up and down (Luke 9:10-17) 

Jesus was a great example of constant communication. We see many examples in the Gospels where Jesus was always communicating His beliefs to his team (disciples). Jesus was always talking about beliefs and core values (Parables of Jesus (Matthew). The Executive Pastor must follow this example and be one that continuously communicates to the teams of the church.

 In the same way, the Executive Pastor must be willing to listen to staff, volunteers, and lay leaders. It would then be his role to pass along the communication points to the Senior/Lead Pastor.

And, the Executive Pastor must ask the Senior/Lead Pastor often: ‘what keeps you awake at night?’ This gives the Senior/Lead Pastor the open door to share and role things off to the Executive Pastor.

5. Understand no one person can carry out the ministry of the church (Exodus 18:13, 18, 21-23)

It seems that no matter the size of the church, there are demands on the Senior/Lead Pastor to carry out tasks that he is really not gifted for. The Executive Pastor helps with this by showing the church the delegation of responsibilities. This also protects the Senior/Lead Pastor from burnout, keeping things off his ‘to-do-list’ that may exhaust him. The Executive Pastor, Senior/Lead Pastor, and other staff members then become more efficient and effective in their ministry.

6. Solve Problems (Genesis 41:46-57)

  In this account from scripture we see Joseph making a plan to save food in case of famine, he projected a problem and implemented a solution. One of the roles of the Executive Pastor is to solve problems that may have at one time come across the Senior/Lead Pastor’s desk. The Senior/Lead Pastor must allow this to happen and communicate this to the other staff and church leaders. The Executive Pastor would also seek to mentor staff to make good decisions so that fewer things/decisions were needed to be made at the executive level.

7. Evaluating Ideas (Proverbs 2:6)

The Executive Pastor serves as a sounding board for the Senior/Lead Pastor to evaluate ideas and strategies. The Executive Pastor works with the Senior/Lead Pastor to determine: what needs to be done now, what needs to be considered at a later time, and what is not a good idea.

8. Strive for Excellence (Malachi 1:7,8)

A key role for the Executive Pastor and his relationship with the Senior/Lead Pastor is to work together as a team to make sure everything in the organization is done with excellence and that the right people are on the team to make this happen.

9. Pray (Numbers 20:6)

Finally and most important is that the Executive Pastor and Senior/Lead Pastor establish a relationship based on prayer, where they meet regularly together to pray over and for each other, the staff, the church and everyone’s effectiveness in getting the message of the gospel out to as many as possible. This type of prayer will naturally lead to a friendship between the Executive Pastor and Senior/Lead Pastor beyond a working relationship.

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Is there anything that you would add to this list?

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A 2020 Update

Since writing this post in 2014 I have edited and revised the list from 9 to 10. Adding what is the most important as number 1, ‘meet the qualifications of a church leader’ based on 1 Timothy 3.

Here is the revised post:

In recent years, the Executive Pastor’s role has become an important part of a vibrant church’s staff structure. The role’s function takes two paths, aligning the staff to execute the local church’s mission and vision and walking alongside and working for the lead pastor so he can carry out his ministry.

Fully accomplishing these two significant roles can be further detailed in these “10 Priorities of an Executive Pastor.”

1. Meet the Qualifications of a Church Leader (1 Timothy 3)

Scripture is very clear when it comes to listing the qualifications of a church leader. In 1 Timothy 3

we find a list that outlines explicitly what is expected of a leader/shepherd/pastor of a church,

including an Executive Pastor.

2. Totally Committed to supporting the Senior Pastor (Exodus 17:11-13)

When Moses' hands grew heavy, they (Arron and Hur), gave him a place to sit, supported his hands

This is an excellent example of how the Executive Pastor can support the Lead Pastor. In the New

Testament Paul empowered others to lead. He communicated the mission and cast the vision, and

they carried it out. This is an example to an Executive Pastor on how he can catch, repeat, and drive

the church’s mission and vision.

3. Freeing the Senior Pastor to Accomplish What He Does Best (1 Corinthians 12)

The Executive Pastor often has different spiritual gifts and talents than the Lead Pastor. This

becomes an asset, as together, these leaders complement each other. The Executive Pastor then can free up the Lead Pastor to do what he does best.

4. Alignment with Senior Pastor's and Ministry's Core Values (Proverbs 4:20-27)

An Executive Pastor must align with the Pastor’s and Church’s Core Values. This is accomplished by

Often talking with the pastor and other leaders. Then the Executive Pastor becomes the champion

and communicator of these to the staff, ministry teams, and other organization parts.

5. Constant Communication...up and down (Luke 9:10-17)

In observing the communication style of Christ, we find He spoke to large crowds, but most often, we see Him communicating to His closest associates. He was continually repeating His mission

and using different communication processes to do so. Jesus’ communication model started by talking with His Father to learn His heart, He repeated the Father’s mission to the team, and brought their thoughts back to the Father. The Executive Pastor needs to remember and use this model of communication: spending time with the Lead Pastor to learn his heart, repeating the Lead Pastor’s thoughts to the staff and other leaders, and then bringing back to the Lead Pastor the ideas of the team.

6. Understand no one person can carry out the ministry of the church (Exodus 18:13, 18, 21-23)

Every Christ-follower is uniquely gifted for ministry. Therefore, no one person can carry out the

mission of the church. In this Old Testament reference, Moses’ father-in-law saw that Moses was

trying to do too much. The father-in-law’s suggestion was to delegate responsibilities to

others who had unique gifts to carry out the task. In doing so, Moses did not ‘burn out,’ it freed him

to do what he was uniquely gifted for and allowed others to lead. This provides an excellent

example of how the church, its staff, and other teams should operate. The Executive Pastor seeks to

help the church function in this way.

7. Solve Problems (Genesis 41:46-57)

Joseph of the Old Testament was placed in a position of leadership. It was there he faced problems, and when they arose, he implemented solutions. Problems will occur in any organization, and in a

church, an Executive Pastor, along with other leaders, seek solutions that will minimally impact the

mission of the church. The Executive Pastor also works alongside the staff to help them evaluate, including consequences to solutions, and act on any problems that may surface in their ministry

areas.

8. Encourage and Evaluate Ideas (2 Chronicles 32:5-8)

The Executive Pastor helps cultivate a culture for new ideas. He then works with the staff to

evaluate the ideas to see which ones best drive the church’s mission. A significant portion of

this process is mentoring the team to evaluate ideas against core values, mission, and vision.

9. Strive for Excellence (Malachi 1:6-9)

Perfection is unobtainable; however, striving for and executing all functions of the church with

excellence is. The Executive Pastor works with the church’s leaders and teams to display

excellence in all aspects of operations. Excellence is what God deserves.

10. Pray (Numbers 20:6)

Above all else, pray. Talent, gifts, and a plan are essential, but there is nothing more important

than prayer. An effective Executive Pastor relies on prayer and models that to the staff.