Sharing the Teaching Load
Outreach Magazine has recently posted their new web exclusives for September and October. My latest article, "Sharing the Teaching Load," is now available. Among other things, I share the following strategies:
- Schedule “off” weekends and special message series ahead of time,
- Consider which staff and volunteer leaders in your ministry can be trained and mentored,
- Trade speaking opportunities with other local churches, and
- Pay guest speakers to come in from time to time.
Read more about the benefits of team teaching on OutreachMagazine.com.
Tony Morgan on Sharing the Teaching Load
Tonys latest article, Sharing the Teaching Load, in Outreach Magazine is now available. Among other things, he shares the following strategies:
Schedule “off” weekends and special message series ahead of time,
Consider which …
Okay, I read your column and found it interesting. I agree with parts of it, but have three counterpoints for you to consider:
1. Part of the Senior Pastor’s role at a church is to cast vision for the church. The pulpit (or music stand for some churches) is one of the best places to cast vision to the entire church on a consistent basis. The fewer times the Senior Pastor is in the pulpit, the less chances he has to cast vision. This point comes from a friend who is an associate at a nearby church. He has been asked to teach more because he is gifted. His desire is to defer to the Senior pastor so that vision can be better cast. I think he makes a good point.
2. What is the purpose for having others teach? If it is developing leadership and teaching goals, then great! If it is allowing needed rest and recharging, then great! If a pastor is gone to write books and speak at conferences to “make a name for himself” then it may not be great. Many American churches have a superstar culture, where the senior pastor is the man. I like that one of your goals is to assist in the transition when a senior pastor leaves or retires.
3. Does changing teachers hurt the congregation? Some friends eventually left their church in response to this point and point 2. Their pastor wrote a book and traveled to attend and/or present at conferences and seminars around the country. It seemed that he was never at church. They gave up inviting friends to church because they wanted the friends to hear the teaching. The teaching and atmosphere lacked consitency because the pastor was always away.
Tony, you are right, there are some great reasons to share the teaching load, but there are also some reasons to make sure that it is done in moderation. Each church needs to make sure that it is not a distraction.
I like that you emphasize the need to thoroughly check out any guest speakers. How do you check out volunteers within the church? How do you prepare a lay leader for the challenges of teaching for the first time in front of a large congregation such as what you have at Granger? It sounds intimidating to me.