Leading campus pastors is one of the most rewarding roles a church leader can have. You get the opportunity to serve and celebrate God’s work in multiple communities through multiple people all at the same time! This excitement certainly comes with its own set of challenges. After all, the group you lead is diverse, each facing their own set of local needs and opportunities.
At one point, I was leading three campus pastors in completely different places: one launching in a suburb, one renovating a building near Amish country, and another established in a rural elementary school. I imagine your campuses have their own distinctions, as well.
So how do you manage this level of diversity on your team? Despite the differences, your campus pastors – and even campus ministry staff – generally share a common set of needs. Meet these, and you’ll set them up to win in big ways:
Need #1: Time to “do nothing” when they start
It’s one thing to read and understand your mission, vision, values, and strategy. It is another to embody it, speak it, and lead it from the heart. When you are on-boarding a new campus pastor, give him or her time to be trained on your organization’s DNA, shadow existing campus pastors, and sit-in on the meetings of various departments. Many people will wonder if you’re paying them to “do nothing.” In reality, you’ll be setting them up for success.
Need #2: Time to invest in their people
People buy into their campus pastor before they buy into the vision. When we launched our Akron campus at NewPointe, one volunteer told me he was serving because he couldn’t not help the campus pastor. That speaks to the level of commitment people have when they truly get to know their leader. In a multisite model, departmental and campus meetings can easily overtake the calendar. Eliminate as much as you possibly can to enable your leaders to invest in their people.
Need #3: Clarity on how you do ministry
Many churches step into a multisite strategy without first clarifying, refining, and documenting how they do ministry. Yet campus pastors are expected to implement these strategies at their campuses. This causes some to stall out, holding back from executing due to lack of clarity. Others blaze their own trail and create tension by doing things differently. Both issues could be resolved by creating a detailed playbook that defines your strategies. Not sure if you have this? The Unstuck Group would love to help.
Need #4: Empowerment to lead through local challenges and opportunities
Regardless of how strong your ministry plans may be, each campus comes with its own set of local challenges and opportunities. Campus pastors need permission to adjust and address those unique distinctives as they arise. Leaders who fail to empower their campus pastors to do so are typically afraid that they are not able to make sound decisions. Invest your time training them on the right values and you won’t have to worry about this. At NewPointe, our campus pastors were given one question to ask when making decisions: “What is the absolute best thing for the unchurched family in our community?” I learned to care less about the decision being made and to care more about the way it was being made.
Need #5: Constant communication beyond what you expect
Campus pastors are impacted by nearly every decision. They build campus plans on the current reality. When that reality is going to change, they need to know far in advance. Rethinking your children’s ministry strategy? They need to know so they can lead their children’s directors accordingly. Changing the series for an upcoming month? They may have planned an outreach event tied to the original one. Any time you see a decision being made, be sure to inform your campus pastors.
Need #6: Feeling the support of an organization
It is easy to assume that campus pastors know the entire organization wants to help them succeed. Because they spend most of their days in a single community, it can be difficult for them to see and feel that support. Regularly show them when someone from another team sets them up to win. Copy them on emails with central ministry leaders. Encourage other leaders to connect with campus pastors directly. Constantly look for ways to help your campus pastors feel the full support of the entire organization.
Serving as a campus pastor – or campus ministry leader – can be very challenging. By meeting these needs for your team, you’ll set them up to feel resourced, empowered, and supported. Which of these shared needs do you most struggle to meet? How often do you ask your campus pastors that question?
