Is Becoming a Lead Pastor a “Death Sentence”?
There is an emerging trend among those who do pursue pastoral ministry: they are settling into Associate Pastor positions with no intention of taking on a Lead Pastor role.
Is stepping into a Lead Pastor role a death sentence? Some younger pastors think so, as one recently told me - a window into what many think and feel about the prospect of becoming a Lead Pastor.
The supply of pastors is shrinking. While seminaries still produce graduates, many now choose to work as counsellors, chaplains, or in nonprofits. And the pool of Lead Pastors may shrink exponentially. There is an emerging trend among those who do pursue pastoral ministry: they are settling into Associate Pastor positions with no intention of taking on a Lead Pastor role.
The reason for this, as my young friend noted, is that “everybody sees how hard it is.” Fewer graduates are choosing to lead in local churches and those who do prefer a position of support over one of primary responsibility. The traditional path from Associate Pastor to Lead Pastor seems to have stalled.
Some denominational leaders are notifying their Associate Pastors of the expectation to take a Lead Pastor position, but many are already aware and have chosen to stay put. One reason is that the Lead Pastor position offers a substantial increase in responsibility but only a marginal increase in salary. This is not the main consideration but it is a factor.
More generally, they see the toll that being the Lead Pastor takes and determine it’s not worth it.
A Kernel of Truth
“Becoming a Lead Pastor is a death sentence.” Taken one way, this is clearly hyperbole. In another way, it’s quite accurate. Younger pastors see the epidemic of burnout, moral failure, and pastoral resignations. Many, it seems, no longer see these outcomes as rare exceptions but as expectations or maybe even as certainties.
We can’t allow this perception to persist. While it’s true that some ministry environments paired with a lack of preparation can crush pastors and lead to serious marriage and mental health challenges, these outcomes are not inevitable.
We can do a better job of training younger pastors what to expect when you’re expecting to become a Lead Pastor.
Opportunities For Sanctification
But there’s a deeper truth here, one I’ve been reflecting on recently. Pastoring done right really is a death sentence but in a very good way.
Bonhoeffer famously said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Serving in pastoral ministry offers endless opportunities to put to death - and keep putting to death - everything that needs to be put to death in the life of a Christian. (Col. 3:5)
Being a pastor of any kind, but especially being a Lead Pastor, is a God-given opportunity to fast-track the process of sanctification. If the inherent hardships of pastoring are accepted as trials from the Lord meant for our good, then pastoring is a death sentence to those parts of us that need to be put to death anyway.
Done a certain way, pastoring can be nothing more than a scheme to fulfill base desires for money, wealth, and power. Michael Kruger explored the outcomes of this type of pastoring in his book “Bully Pulpit”.
But pastoring according to God’s Word deals regular death blows to pride, ambition, self-aggrandizement, people-pleasing and a whole host of other sins. In submitting to the Lord by accepting this assignment and the hard experiences that come, a deep and steadfast faith emerges.
And after these trials have passed, we find a peculiar gratitude rising up for experiences which, while they were underway, were excruciating.
For the Reluctant Associate Pastor…
If you are an Associate Pastor who is uneasy about stepping into a Lead Pastor role, I offer the following for consideration.
First, you may be correct in your self-assessment. Becoming a Lead Pastor brings an increase in responsibility, pressure, scrutiny, and the weight of dealing with serious spiritual and emotional matters. If in your assessment (or that of your advisors/mentors) you are not called to the position, then definitely do not pursue it. There is no lack of honour or dignity in holding an Associate Pastor role if that’s where the Lord has placed you.
However, if you sense that you might be called and would be capable of the Lead Pastor role but you’re avoiding it for the sake of comfort and convenience, then you might be walking in disobedience, which in the long run is not going to lead you to good places.
Embracing Responsibility
A meaningful life requires taking on the greatest weight of responsibility that one can bear. God may allow you to be tested to your limit, but it’s then that he will work most profoundly in you.
Let this weight of responsibility shape your desires and crowd out lesser things. If God has called you, he will surely sustain you. When we fail to step into his call, it is to our detriment, not his. By not taking that next step into greater responsibility, we rob ourselves of significant blessings.
When you face trials of various kinds, thank God for pointing you in that direction.
Becoming a Lead Pastor may indeed feel like a death sentence—but for those who are called, that is the very reason to pursue the position, not avoid it.
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Michael Krahn is a pastor, the husband of Anne Marie, and the father of Madeleine, Olivia, and Sophia. Make a connection on Facebook, X, or Instagram.