Joshua Horst 2nd year M. Div student
Winterim at Concordia Seminary means a special intensive class for the 2nd year M. Div students, called “Introduction to Pastoral Leadership.” It’s all about giving seminarians a leg up in in the administration part of his role as a vicar, and ultimately as a future pastor. We covered topics such as how congregational size should affect leadership style, staffing and working as a team in the ministry of the church, and helping a congregation craft a strategic plan. These areas may be overlooked with the importance of other pastoral tasks, like teaching the Word of God and applying the Sacraments as God’s steward, but make no mistake, the pastor will be an administrator and public leader in other aspects of the church life, for better or worse.
One of the textbooks used in this class is titled Maximizing the Midsize Church, written by our own Dr. David Peter, who taught a section of the winterim class. Its first basic premise is that middle-sized churches “receive relatively little attention from church analysts, consultants, and publishers.”[1] Dr. Peter wants to address the oversight of many other published works being written for leading the small church and the large church. In doing so, he gives an analysis of middle-sized congregations (150-400 average worship attendance) and offers suggestions on how to best lead this size of a church.
One key insight of analysis he has is that the middle-sized church is oriented around programs. The mid-sized church is big and complex enough to need to organize around its various programs, as its group dynamic comes through very strong.
Anything peak your interest? Are you involved in a mid-sized church? Check out Maximizing the Midsize Church from your seminary library today!
[1] David J. Peter, Maximizing the Midsize Church: Effective Leadership for Fruitful Mission and Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Ministry, 2018), 13.