Clergy effectiveness study will enhance training, says leader

A UMNS Report
By Vicki Brown*

An analysis of what makes an effective pastor will enhance training provided this summer to United Methodist annual (regional) conferences.

The Rev. Sharon Rubey, director of candidacy and conference relations at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, said the study would provide useful information for those who work with candidates for ministry, assign pastors to churches, and do clergy supervision.

Richard P. DeShon, a psychology professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., used focus groups to conduct the study. "The breadth of tasks performed by local church pastors, coupled with the rapid switching between tasks and roles prevalent in this job is unique," he reported. "It is remarkable how complex this job is."

The next step, according to Rubey, is to develop and distribute a survey about the underlying behaviors associated with effective ministry "to learn more about the amount of time and the value that is given to each behavior."

"Along with that, we hope to survey congregations… to find out the kinds of knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (that) are desired in pastoral leadership," she added.

"Together, these studies will offer guidelines that can be helpful in matching pastors with congregations."

The study, completed last December, used focus groups of pastors who were identified as "high performing pastors" by boards of ordained ministry and district superintendents. The 20 pastors chosen were diverse in gender, racial/ethnic background and age and represented a variety of ministry settings and different sizes of churches.

Tasks contribute to effectiveness
A set of 13 clusters or groups of tasks that contribute to effective performance emerged from the discussions. Those are: administration, caregiving, rituals and sacraments, facility construction, communication, relationship building, evangelism, fellowship, management, preaching and public worship, self-development, United Methodist connectional service, and other development, such as performing activities to teach, train or mentor individuals and groups to improve their knowledge and skills.

"Every pastor is not going to be able to perform all these tasks well," DeShon said. He pointed out that "the people who are effective at very big churches could out-compete CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. The problem is there aren't that many of them."

The Rev. Tom Pace, senior pastor of St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Houston and focus group participant, believes there is one crucial element an effective pastor must have. "You have to know how to learn, and you have to like doing it," he said.

"I also think pastors have to be self-assured enough that they can be psychologically grounded," he said. "There is no work other than politics or acting where it is so much about whether people like you."

When he first came to St. Luke's - a church with about 2,000 weekly attendance at worship - some people left simply because he wasn't the former pastor, and they did not like him as much, Pace acknowledged.

Scope of responsibilities
The Rev. Sara Thompson-Tweedy, pastor of The Federated Church of Kerhonkson in Kerhonkson, N.Y., said she was stunned at the scope of the tasks identified by the focus groups.

"But really, it's the work of the church. It falls on clergy to do it or see that it gets done, but there is no way one person could do everything," she said. The church she pastors has about 100 members in a community of 2,000.

Both Thompson-Tweedy and Pace said churches teach their pastor things they need to know.

"When I went into ministry, I would have thought care giving was my strength," she explained. But now, she believes her particular strengths are preaching and public worship. "I feel so alive when I preach, teach, and lead worship."

Tweedy-Thompson said good pastors must learn to delegate and be willing to let people fail gracefully. "If you stand over someone with your foot in their chest, they are going to do nothing or get sick of you and leave. You may discover you've delegated to the wrong person. If they fail, you need to pat them on them on the back and say that's fine."

DeShon said all of the pastors in the focus groups talked about the importance of a strong call and also about finding a balance between life and being clergy.

In addition to a call, DeShon noted it was clear that good pastors have to be adaptable, intelligent, and have good social skills. "You must have a strong sense of call and nothing can substitute for that," he said. "A lot of other things you can work on."

To read the study, visit www.gbhem.org and click on Boards of Ordained Ministry.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.