Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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12 comments:
Administration. Our last one did not have this.
She or he has to be able to relate to the pastors and "have their backs" if the church turns on them or they have problems.
At the same time, he or she must be able to pull the pastor aside and show them where they've messed up, but in private.
Must be a good listener.
Must remember things...the last one didn't.
And MUST know the Discipline.
I'm not a Methodist, but I would put administration and discernment at the top of my list. The first is obvious, but perhaps not obvious enough. The second is about knowing when to support you and when to correct you and when to do a little of both.
willingess to support the pastors under his/her supervision.
I served under a very unsupportive DS once and it was a real roayl pain. When conflict arose in the church people would whine to the DS and he would come along and instead of offering support for my ministry, he simply slapped my wrist. He let the people know he did such and made look like a chump. It was a shame.
Now I serve under a DS who supports my ministry. In fact, at a local worship service including several hundred laity he said soemthing like this "a word to teh pastors: Go and preach teh Gospel. Lead your church. And if the people don't like it then we have another appointment for you and you do it there." Now that is support! And he has done it.
In our conference, our Bishop has asked for our recommendations to fill 4 DS slots in teh past 2 years. I wrote him about getting a DS who understands post-modern, emerging ministry... and he did it. In fact, he said that one of the reasons he appointed this clergyperson DS was because he was into the emerging church.
With the consistent decline in youth and young adults in our church we need leadership that understands the changing face of ministry that attracts people 35 and younger. Otherwise, the UMC should just write off most of Gen-X.
Anyone hear anything about D.S.es being organized by task rather than geographically? So a conference might have a D.S. or two who are administrators, a few who are conflict resolution people, a couple who do spiritual direction, etc. I have heard a few whispers about this idea here in Missouri, but nothing specific.
Curious,
Andy B.
I don't even know exactly what a superintendent does. So, you might not want to take my comment all too seriously.
Inspirational leadership-an ear for listening to find fresh ideas and not afraid to use 'em.
patience
and the ability to say NO
(and chair a charge conference meeting)
give guidance (practical and spiritual ) to the pastors he or she supervises
:)
When a pastor has been really, really bad, he is punished by being made District Superintendent. Then he gets yelled at 24/7 by parishoners angry that their pastor has either (a) started a contemporary service or (b) worn khakis in public.
As most pastors are drug runners, bank robbers, or child molestors on the side, the DS also has to handle the media when the inevitable arrests happen.
can i have one that says 'i really enjoy coming to these' (speaking of charge conference) & feel like they really mean it.
I have the same attitude about DS's that the rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof expresses about the Czar "God bless the DS's and keep them....far away from me."
I'm old enough to remember the day when a DS tried to be the pastor's pastor.
Just paying attention and returning phone calls would be a good start!
I was part of a UMC church plant that lived less than two years. Most of the reason we died was the inattention/ignorance of the conference on how to plant churches.
During our existence we tried over and over to get our DS to acknowledge our existence, even to return phone calls. It would take weeks of one-sided phone tag to get his attention. He never came to a single worship service or meeting we held; he did not hold a charge conference for us in our first year. There was no encouragement at all.
The week after we died, he held our first-even charge conference, at which we gave him an overview of all the things we had accomplished in our two years. It was a good and long list. At the end, he actually asked us, "So why are you giving up on the plant?"
I guess I'm lucky that my last two DSes where good ones -- but completely different. I have felt I could go to them and really talk... Yeah, and be MY pastor. One was a much better administrator; one is a better listener. A good DS would help facilitate ministry in the parish.
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