I wish I could have been there this morning with the crew at Church Tech Camp, but since I couldn’t, it was great to watch it live and participate.
Props to Tony Steward for putting on the “unconference.” And props to #churchtechcamp making the Twitter trends today and making it on the Twitter blog.
Check out some of Tony’s thoughts on the day.
Check out the live blog from Church Tech Camp today as well.
You can see my question on the live blog that I posed to the audience.
11:22
[Comment From rhettsmith]
I’m wondering if we move more and more towards open source in the Church…what role do you see the pastor taking?
There was some lengthy discussion about my question and what I meant. But in general, I wonder with the ability for congregations to quickly self organize and communicate without having to go through the pastor, the hierarchy, etc., what role will the pastor take in the future? I think many pastors are nervous about losing power, status and position that has always been afforded them from behind the pulpit, so what if they are no longer needed? And by that, I don’t mean they won’t speak, preach or teach, but what if their particular brand of one person leadership is not needed? Will they become more of a facilitator? Are the traditional vocational roles of the pastor in jeopardy (as in paid staff)? Lots of questions I am asking.
But what I’m really thinking is that the decentralization of the pastor is actually a great thing for a church community, and it places the pastor in a role that I think he or she was meant to be in. That of shepherd, facilitator, etc. Someone who leads from within….not above or out in front.
P.S. Thanks to Rich Kirkpatrick for being my voice in person at the conference when I was actually in Dallas. He helped better finesse and define some of the questions I was having trouble articulating.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
hey Rhett,
It was a great question that really got high jacked – I knew what you were speaking about and am glad that eventually we got back to the point
Missed you there bro!
Tony,
Ha…no problem. It wasn’t the clearest question I asked. So that left it open to being hijacked.
But I noticed that you, Rich Kirkpatrick and a few others were reading my mind and were able to steer it back in the right direction.
I love ministry…I was and am a pastor, so I love pastoring. But I also think that technology is allowing us to do things differently in a very easy way…communicate, organize, etc, etc. And hopefully the congregation can do this without having to go through all the traditional, hierarchical church structures that have for too long consolidated “power” in the hands of a pastor, exec. team, elder board, etc.
Instead, I think it will put the “power” back in the hands of the congregation…and the pastor will act more as a facilitator, shepherd for the community. But I think that is a great thing.
And maybe we need to rethink the whole role of pastoral leadership in this country anyways.
rhett
You read my mind, actually, Rhett. I think that empowerment of lay people is the need and tech is exposing this issue in an important way. Being a pastor is not about power as far as keeping it–it is about giving it away!
I expect to have that beer with you sooner rather than later.
Great point Rhett. I am involved at http://www.newsong.net Dave is very committed to the concept I think you are getting at where the pastor resources the congregation to act. Its cool to see others are seeing this important shift and embracing it. Stoked on all that #churchtechcamp looked at today and hoping to see nonprofits and parachurch groups in the future.
Rhett – you & @mattsingley were missed.
Thanks guys and gal. I missed all of you too.
Thanks for the comments and feedback. I think we are all on the same page. It will be great to get us all in the room again…for now, we will have to settle for online.
rhett
Always love your thoughts on how technology and the internet effects the church. Challenging question….still thinking about it.
that was a great question and it was great watching some people squirm in their seats.
we have been trying to flesh out what it means to ‘decentralize’ the lead pastor at impact church.
the truth is, it scares a lot of leaders to put the keys to the kingdom in the hands of everyone.