As the saying goes, what got you here won’t get you there. The skills that got you to where you are today in church leadership won’t get you to where you want to be.
And that’s never been more true than it is now.
As you’ve no doubt sensed, several new realities have combined to make this a deeply challenging season for church leaders.
First, America, in particular, is quickly becoming a post-Christian culture. The rise of the Nones, deconstruction, culture wars, and declining church attendance are combining to suspend the normal rules about what used to ‘work’ and be effective in ministry. (Here’s a fascinating conversation about the cultural moment we’re in.)
Second, as we’ve all seen and painfully experienced to one extent or another, pastoral stress, burnout, and anxiety have never been higher than in this generation of church leaders. That’s taken its toll in a way few anticipated.
Third, things seem to be moving in a potentially dystopian direction faster than ever. Between the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence—which stands to up-end so much in the next few years—global political instability and financial challenges that are making it harder than ever to live the middle-class life so many dreamed of, rarely have we had to navigate this much change this regularly.
Factors like these are not only taking a toll on people, they’re taking a toll on leaders.
Of course, it’s not all bad news. The hope and healing that the church brings has never been more needed or relevant than it is now. And the opportunity has never been greater in our lifetime.
It goes without saying that none of us were trained for this moment in seminary. But, there are seven skills that will be essential for church leaders moving forward.
The good news is that all of them can be learned and that some (not all) can be delegated to others. Churches that have this skill set well-represented in its top leadership will have a bright future. Churches that don’t, not so much.
So, here are 7 critical skills for church leadership:
1. Emotional Health
Emotional intelligence and spiritual health are two topics that have been much-discussed in different circles over the last few decades.
And, thankfully, emotional health has been championed by leaders like Pete Scazerro.
It’s something that was so overdue for attention in the church.
Often, I fuse spiritual and emotional health, because you’re not really spiritually healthy if you’re not emotionally healthy. You could argue that you can be emotionally healthy without being spiritually healthy, but the inverse isn’t true.
Sure, here’s how I would generally define emotional health or emotional well-being:
Emotional health involves having an awareness of your emotions, being able to regulate strong emotional reactions, and maintaining control over behaviors influenced by emotions.
Emotionally healthy leaders are:
- Self-aware – They’re able to identify and name the emotions they’re feeling.
- Self-regulated – They have techniques to keep emotions in check and avoid overreacting, such as through relaxation methods or reframing thoughts.
- Resilient – They have the ability to cope with and recover from difficult situations or setbacks without lasting psychological difficulties.
- Empathetic – They have the capacity to understand and share the feelings of others.
- Self-motivated – They use healthy emotions like enthusiasm and perseverance to work toward goals.
- Relationally healthy – They have the emotional intelligence to build and maintain positive relationships.
Overall, emotional health parallels the characteristics of spiritual health. As a skill, it creates emotional balance and equips people to navigate challenges while maintaining healthy relationships.
Spiritual health is more complex and extensive than that, but without emotional health, things crumble very quickly.
In eras of change, divisions, and despair, emotional health is indispensable, not just for the leader but for the sake of the entire church. Why?
Healthy leaders tend to produce healthy churches. Unhealthy leaders tend to produce unhealthy churches.
Spiritual and emotional health is a long journey, but the good news is that it’s available to anyone who wants to get well. For me, it’s a long, continuing journey.
Whatever you need to do to become emotionally healthy, do it:
- Go see a counselor.
- Go to an onsite retreat.
- Go to rehab.
Whatever it takes, it’s worth the investment. Because the cost of emotionally unhealthy leaders to the church (and to peoples’ faith) is staggering.
I mentioned resilience above, and it deserves some focus. So many leaders are struggling with that right now.
2. Resilience
Life is hard. Ministry is harder.
Okay, I’ve never said that before, but I think I believe that.
I've never said it before, but I think I believe it; Life is hard. Ministry is harder. Click To TweetHaving pastored for 20 years myself, I understand the unique pressures pastors face, from not wanting to disappoint the people you serve, to having people you thought were your friends walk out of your church and your life, to the unique challenges of leading a volunteer organization funded by its attenders.
Add to this at least some measure of spiritual opposition, and yes, ministry is tough.
This is why resilience is such a valuable trait to have and a skill to develop.
Simply put, resilience is the ability to recover quickly from tough situations, to spring back into form, and to keep going to lead another day.
Obviously, resilience is so much harder to do than it is to define, but there are disciplines like staying emotionally healthy, learning how to practice self-care without being self-indulgent, building deep and meaningful friendships (despite previous betrayals), having a rich spiritual life, developing a life outside of ministry for your days off, and grieving your losses that can help develop resilience (also see the work Glenn Packiam is doing).
Historically, the church has been remarkably resilient, but in this next season, for the church to thrive, we really need our leaders to be resilient too.
3. Visionary Leadership
It’s hard to lead when you can’t see ahead, but visionary leadership is an asset the church really needs right now.
Given the nature of how quickly things are changing, the days of ten-year strategic plans may be over, but that’s no excuse not to lead with vision.
The easiest way to provide visionary leadership is also the most compelling: be a clear champion of the mission of the church (and the mission of your church), in and out of season, and then do whatever you can to further that.
Many leaders hesitate to articulate a vision because they can’t be certain about what is going to happen next. And that’s fair.
Sure, you don’t know what the economy is going to do, or what is going to change next in culture, but you do know the vision of the church, and you know the hope the Gospel brings to a world that’s struggling.
While you may not be able to be certain as a leader, you can be clear.
Clarity in the face of uncertainty looks like this: We don’t know what’s going to happen with X, but we do know Y, so this is what we’re going to do.
Just because you can’t be certain doesn’t mean you can’t be clear. And clear, visionary leadership is an essential skill for future church leaders.
4. Excellent Communication Skills
Thanks to social media, YouTube, and our hyper-connected culture, your congregation hears more messages from more sources than at any point in history. Which also means they expect great communication with their local church too.
Having excellent communication skills doesn’t mean that you’re the best orator or that you have a million followers. It’s much easier than that.
It simply means you can write a clear sermon and deliver in a memorable way. You can be soft-spoken and do that, or have all the attributes of a powerful orator. It doesn’t matter.
It just means that you are able to get your message out, clearly and consistently. That’s definitely true for Sunday morning, but also true on all other channels too: email, texting, social, YouTube etc.
My 4 Categories of Preaching can help you understand how to do that, and my course on preaching clear, engaging, and memorable sermons will guide you through the entire process.
5. Digital Literacy
You’re doing ministry in a technologically evolved and evolving world. With the rapid rise of AI, things are changing faster than ever.
Church leaders have been slow in adapting to technology, and it was COVID that finally forced church leaders to go online.
But when buildings were open again, many church leaders quickly reverted (and continue to revert) to the old ways of being the church. Of note, Bridgetown Church announced that they’re stopping their livestream altogether.
Obviously, the personal embodiment of ministry is critical, but to ignore digital ministry is to close the real front door to your church.
To ignore technology as a church leader is like posting a disclaimer beneath the welcome sign on the front lawn of your church that reads, “Just kidding. We don’t really care if you ever come in here or not.”
Almost anyone who discovers your church today or in the future is going to do so online.
If you push back by saying, “Well, what if their friend invites them?” fair point. But I promise you that invited guest is going to check you out on social or visit your church website before they walk in the door.
Further, AI is going to fundamentally alter the landscape of life, relationships, romance, caregiving, and employment as we know it.
I’m not saying you need to become a tech leader as a church leader, but I am saying that the longer you put your head in the sand, the more irrelevant you’ll become to people whose lives are being impacted daily by the issues you’re ignoring.
At a minimum, you need to be aware of what’s going on and have a team that’s figuring out how to embrace the new digital era of life and ministry. Otherwise, you’ll become irrelevant.
Relevance gives you permission to speak into the culture. The culture routinely ignores those it deems to be irrelevant.
6. Team and Community Building
I know this can seem overwhelming, so the good news is that you can’t do it alone and that you don’t have to.
Building a team and community who can do the work of ministry is not just biblical, it’s a practical necessity.
One person has never possessed all the gifts for ministry (see the Bible for more on that) and
practically speaking, the ability to equip and empower a team of people to release their gifts in the church and world has never been more pressing.
Large churches that can afford staff are growing, but they are still a rarity compared to the number of small churches that have a handful of staff and can barely afford a solo or bi-vocational pastor.
And to be fair, almost every large church does a fantastic job of equipping its people to serve. Even if you have 300 staff, 300 staff can’t serve 30,000 attenders effectively. It takes thousands of volunteers.
The good news is that building teams is yet another way of fostering a meaningful community. Community should be at the heart of every church, large or small.
In a world where content is plentiful, and community is scarce, community is a new superpower.
7. Agility
Finally, leaders who will take us into the future need to be agile.
In an age where change is constant and jarring, the plan you have today may be useless tomorrow. Agile leaders have no problem with that.
The mission is eternal, the model can change.
The challenge, of course, is that many leaders love their model more than they love the mission. But churches who love their model more than their mission will die.
The agile leader has a future. The leader who won’t change doesn’t.
How Are You Positioned?
This is a lot, so the question becomes, “How are you positioned to lead into the future?”
Again, the good news is that virtually every skill needed for the future can be learned. You can join thousands of other leaders in the Art of Leadership Academy who are engaging in a community of growth-minded leaders, accessing practical training, and gaining the skills they need to lead confidently into the future.
