ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

A
Profile of
Team
CHARLES SHIELDS LANDED HIS DREAM JOB. IN HIS SEVENTEENTH YEAR AS SENIOR PASTOR OF
BRENTWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HE WAS NOW ABLE TO FOCUS ON USING HIS GOD-
GIVEN GIFTS TO BE THE CONGREGATION’S SPIRITUAL GUIDE, TEACHER AND PREACHER.
HOW RADICAL.
BUT IT WAS. As the congregation had
grown, so had his involvement in non-pastoral
duties, such as managing an expanding staff
and attending numerous committee meetings.
But this is more than a story about Charles
and his dream job. It is a story about how a
church intentionally moved from a traditional
pastor-staff-committee structure to a more
team-gift-based model.
This strategic staffing change was not pulled
out of mere thin air. However, some might
argue that divine intervention and human wisdom
authored the five-year staffing plan,
which led to monumental role redefinition for
this 75-year-old congregation.
Brentwood, located in Los Angeles, had consistently
grown under Shields’ leadership.
Seventeen years ago, membership numbers
stood at 500, with far less than that in worship.
Now, over 1300 names fill the rolls, with
four Sunday services and over 100 ministries
available for adults and youth.
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Brentwood’s normal response to growth had
been to add staff, change staffing patterns,
plan and re-plan. “The church had grown to a
place where we were thinking about adding a
fourth ordained pastor, or to staff ourselves
another way—and that was a significant commitment,”
explained Shields. “We realized we
had more work than our paid and unpaid
staff could manage. We needed to add staff,
but we first needed to identify a clear plan,
a rationale.”
With that, the POPA Task Force was created.
Fourteen key lay leaders—representing two
committees, Planning and Organization, and
Personnel and Administration (POPA)—were
called together to create this five-year staffing
plan which ultimately provided a blueprint for
how the church wanted to staff itself based on
the ministry and values they held.
“This was a huge shift,” explained Sue
Mallory, director of Leadership Training
Network and former director of lay ministries
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at Brentwood. “Borne out of the desire to
recognize and protect the gifts and boundaries
of our staff and their families, the lay
leaders risked creating a new visionary
plan that brought home the values of a
lay-driven church.”
Eight months later, the plan was unveiled.
Research findings included results from a
time and motion study and interviews with
staff and key lay leaders. The plan included
the creation of a Preferred Pastor Profile. The
Profile specifically laid out what the church
wanted their ordained pastors to do and not
to do. “What it said,” remarked Shields, “is
that Brentwood wanted their pastors to teach,
preach, identify and hold up their vision of
what God wants them to do. They wanted us
to give spiritual guidance and direction and be
available for emergency pastoral care. Some
optional things might be counseling and
involvement in selected committees.”
(Continued on page 3)