Leader's Insight: Leading While Following (and Visa Versa)

Our family traveled to the beautiful Yosemite Valley a few years ago. While camping there, we found ourselves roaming well-worn pathways into the night, to and from campfires and evening activities. Away from city lights, our children were both frightened by the darkness and exhilarated by the opportunity to explore this wonderland together.

After deciding as a group where we were headed, we appointed a leader who carried our biggest flashlight and determined the path the family would take. The rest followed with our own little lights. Each one used his light to illumine the way, sometimes pointing out a treacherous root or hanging branch. Our greatest temptation was for each one to shine his light ahead of the leader or deep into the woods along the sides. Invariably, the one who did that would stumble on a root or slip on loose gravel unseen in the darkness at his feet.

I have found that being an associate in a multi-staff church is much like those nighttime hikes. The church leadership charts the course. The staff, both clergy and laity, get it done.

The senior pastor is out front, shining light on the path for the whole church. The associates are behind the pastor, illuminating individual areas of responsibility. The one following the leader is leading others who follow. This requires mutual trust.

The leader cannot carry all the flashlights and expect those who follow to keep up or clearly see their way in the darkness. Indeed, it is most desirable that lights be multiplied, provided they follow the leader. But the associate must also trust the experience and calling of the senior. An associate may perceive that she possesses more information about a particular issue, but she lacks the position and perspective of the one in front. Without dimming or hiding one’s own light, the associate pastor must follow the senior. That means submission.

Distracted by bears

While hiking in Yosemite, those back in the line sometimes wanted to play their flashlights about in the trees. One child felt compelled to “sweep the woods for bears.” First, their focus would stray and then their imagination. They would quickly become convinced of another way to go, or a good reason not to follow in the direction the family was headed.

The same can happen in a church. An associate is a follower, even while leading others. A certain submission to the direction and leadership must be preserved. The attitude of submission helps the associate remember to focus where God is leading through the senior pastor and to go there. This will minimize distractions and prevent distressing side trips. As trust develops among the staff, the congregation will sense it and be encouraged in their own relationships with each other. The way becomes clearer as the unity grows.

The most important way to build trust and share a common focus is good communication. As my children and I tramped through the woods, our trust was tested as we communicated up and down the line. The leader would call out a turn in the path and the rest would be alerted to follow. Each would echo down the line what had been said.

In like manner, when the short legs of the smaller ones fatigued, word needed to reach the leader to adjust. One child would report sounds and another would interpret. We would repeat what we had heard from one another and we were glad to hear of needs and successes. Focused and communicating clearly, we arrived at our goal more quickly and with more enthusiasm and energy.

As an associate, I am able to spend more time in direct service with God’s people. The pastor needs communiques from down the line about what’s happening. It is heartwarming when I am able to share with him the needs of the people to whom I minister directly. Sometimes I have to seek out those opportunities.

When working with many staffers, we should set aside time regularly for planning, discussion, and just plain sharing each other’s lives. Care must be taken to reflect back what one hears in writing or in person. Assumptions are reduced, clarity increases.

Navigating roadblocks

My own calling and gifts tend to keep me tightly focused in the areas I attend, but the head of staff has the wider view of the whole congregation. At times it is nice to know that my service supports the direction that has been set. At other times I may need to adjust the direction of my flashlight.

Perhaps the clearest example of this in my ministry was the annual women’s retreat. A great success in my first year, the retreat carried momentum for growth. However, several church members felt it was already too large at 150 and wanted to limit attendance. The pastor directed that we cap it at 100.

I was disappointed. I wish we had talked more about his perspective. In retrospect, I realize that sudden growth was anxiety producing for some as it meant new faces. From his viewpoint this may have been too much growth for the church to accommodate at that time. Though my understanding of the leader’s position was not complete, it was important to stand in line with him. I let go of my own perspective and prayed more diligently. God used that event to identify in me areas where I needed to “manage less” and “model more.”

Ministry ultimately means modeling, walking in the footsteps of Jesus. The associate pastor grows in servanthood and humility like that of Jesus when he or she learns the discipline to release control, to say, “I will submit.” This both requires and develops humility. Out of these times I continue to learn to leave my concerns in God’s hands. Then I grow in trust of God and of others.

We lead best when we have first learned to follow not only Jesus but the leaders he puts in our lives. This, for me, is an unexpected and greater grace.

When hiking in the dark wilderness, we were tempted to shine our lights randomly at whatever stirring caught our attention. But our individual flashlights were more appreciated as in tandem they brightened a wider area in the direction we were headed. And we had fewer mishaps on our way. We now look forward to these nature hikes as we remember with laughter the journeys that have brought us closer together.

Associate pastors, ministry staff, and lay leaders should strive for no less. Leading while following is a calling all its own.

Emily McColl has served as associate pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

To respond to this newsletter, write to Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net.