Away with Senior Pastors

The Out of Ur leadership blog has a two-part post (Part I, Part II) evaluating recent ruminations by David Fitch which he entitled, "Some Reasons Why the Lone 'Senior Pastor' Might Not Make Sense Anymore."

Fitch writes,

"...we must dump the CEO- pastor-leader that the church has too often modeled from the secular business..."the CEO-pastor-leader" is a construction that only makes sense in the Cartesian worlds where man is in control..., where leadership is technique driven..., and people are units in a sociological structure devoid of the organic nature that we see characterizes the gifted nature of the Body of Christ. (1 Cor 12: 4-31)."

Harsh words, and like some other elements of the post-modernist, emerging church movement, it sounds to my ears more like a reaction to excess or sterile tradition than a positive response to the simple teachings of the Word of God. And, yet, whatever a person thinks about his conclusion, one must grapple with the reasons he gives:

1.) Because it doesn't make sense to build a church around a personality.
2.) Because there are no supermen (women).
3.) Because isolated pastors can become blinded to their own lacks and get tunnel vision and become egomanical.
4.) Because pastors cannot lead alone.
5.) Because pastors benefit from being bi-vocational.
6.) Because it models the diversity and interrelatedness of the Body.
7.) Because it keeps pastors from becoming fake images which inevitably leads to moral failure and/or disappointment.
9.) Because it is hard for pastors to foster servanthood when they are put on a pedestal separated from the people.
10.) In summary, because the senior pastor position is an impossible position to live up to.