How accountable are you.....really?

Dear Pastors

I know I am venturing into potentially treacherous waters with this blog. I’m writing this because I believe stronger than I have ever before of the importance of Pastors being accountable both at a professional and personal level.

Here’s our challenge I think. Most Pastors can please themselves if they want to (and in my observation most do). What I mean is this. In a sole pastorate or for that matter in a multi- staff church who is going to keep a watching brief on a day to day basis on the Pastor. You don’t need to keep set hours, and though you will have a Job Description(JD) it’s a rare church Eldership or Board that keeps the Pastor accountable to his/her JD as a year in, year out practise.

To be very clear here. I am NOT saying pastors don’t work hard and I a certainly not inferring that pastors are dishonest. What I am saying is that most pastors/ministers/vicars work in an unstructured environments. They do not need to clock in or out, they don’t have a mandatory set of tasks to do or have any requirements to account for their use of time UNLESS they self-impose this requirement upon themselves.

To illustrate. When I was school teaching I had to be at work at 8.30am and you bet I had a daily routine of work to accomplish. Miss even one day’s routine without making previous arrangements would raise eye brows. That is what is called a structured work environment which you will notice is completely different to an unstructured environment most pastors and most para-church leaders work in.

Personally, this is all the more reason we should gladly and whole heartedly embrace accountability as not only a ministry discipline but a professional activity that helps us stay on track and focused on our KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) AND work on any weak areas in our personal lives that might be causing a concern.

Here are a few accountability activities that you may already be doing:-

• Annual and formal Appraisal.
  Formal Appraisals are a professional tool in the HR tool kit BUT need to be done carefully and by people who know how to do them in my opinion.
• Monthly ‘check-in’s with the Elders or Board asking this question, “Do you have any comments or concerns about my performance”? No formal minutes to be taken.
• Have a relationship with a mentor (external) who is invested in your life and has been given permission by you to ‘speak the truth in love’ to you at any and all times.
• Let your wife/husband/confidante keep you grounded and maybe your adult kids.

A lot more can be said about this topic but suffice to say for now, performance and personal appraisals are part of the stewardship responsibility we all carry as pastors and when gladly embraced by you and done professionally are life giving and not life depleting.

Blessings

Alan

Don’t forget the seminars for about ‘Raising Resilient Kids’ starting in Hamilton and Tauranga next week. Details and registration here. Definitely not to late to jump on board.//

How Good and blessed this is. Church opens doors.

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.