Associate/assistance Pastor

[Bro K 218]

Does your church have associate/assistance pastors?  If so, what are their responsibilities and what authority do they have?

[John81 7,400]

We have an associate pastor. Other than shared responsibilities with the senior pastor, he's primarily in charge of youth ministries, education and outreach. He preaches about once a month, conducts some weddings, funerals, counseling, tech stuff,

[JerryNumbers 2,474]

No.

[HappyChristian 3,467]

We have assistant pastors.  Their responsibilities vary and their authority is commensurate with those responsibilities.

[TheSword 861]

We have a Senior Pastor and 3 Associate/Assistant Pastors. One is Principal for the K-6 school and the worship/choir leader, another is the youth minister, and the third is children's minister and, for all intents and purposes, the Senior Pastor-in-training as it were (I think he's posturing to plant a church at some point). The Senior Pastor does most of the preaching and practices general oversight of everything, but all of them preach on occasion, though the third one listed above does so more often.

[Bro K 218]

One of my conerns is that I've noticed these associate/assistance pastor are becoming younger and younger as time goes by (late 20s thru 30).  If something should happen to the Pastor which created an immediate void; would these young men be equipped enough to fulfill the responsibility of a Pastor?

[Bro K 218]

We have a Senior Pastor and 3 Associate/Assistant Pastors. One is Principal for the K-6 school and the worship/choir leader, another is the youth minister, and the third is children's minister and, for all intents and purposes, the Senior Pastor-in-training as it were (I think he's posturing to plant a church at some point). The Senior Pastor does most of the preaching and practices general oversight of everything, but all of them preach on occasion, though the third one listed above does so more often.

Hopefully you have a 'chain of command' in place.

[TheSword 861]

One of my conerns is that I've noticed these associate/assistance pastor are becoming younger and younger as time goes by (late 20s thru 30).  If something should happen to the Pastor which created an immediate void; would these young men be equipped enough to fulfill the responsibility of a Pastor?

 

In my experience I would say yes to some, definitely not to others. Some clearly aren't meant to fill the role of the Sr. Pastor and are well suited for their current ministry. The thing is, most men coming out of Bible college are going to be in the 23-25 range and they have to start somewhere. The best place for them is under a seasoned pastor they can learn from and and get practical training under. If the young guys aren't ordained and trained then we'll eventually run out of older pastors wouldn't we?

[TheSword 861]

Hopefully you have a 'chain of command' in place.

 

I don't know that there's an official chain of command structure, but there is a clear hierarchy. If the Sr. Pastor is out with an ailment then the third one I mentioned would be the interim Pastor until the other was back or the need to find a permanent one arose. I also have every bit of confidence that he would end up being the replacement if such a situation came about.

[OFIB Preacher 20]

Does your church have associate/assistance pastors?  If so, what are their responsibilities and what authority do they have?

 

Bro K, good to see you up here, been a while for me anyway.  Not sure if y'all know it, but, we moved to KY July of 2012, to be members of Pleasant View Baptist Church of McQuady, where brother Dale Massengale is our great pastor!  That being said, we don't have Associate/Assistant pastors, but we do have like ten preachers in the church, with various ministries/responsibilities, of course with the pastor's approval/blessing.  He knows what ministries we have/take part in and keeps us on our toes, or knees, as it were.  Hope this helps!

[Bro K 218]

Bro Josh; great to hear you finally moved up here in the hills!!!!! I heard you had moved and your family is increasing. Great News.  I know its sometime before the Jubilee at Charity Baptist; but are you planning on coming this year?  Hope to hear from you here on the forum. God Bless.

[candlelight 760]

No; however, one of the deacons in my church is a graduate of Cleveland Baptist Bible Institute.  He can act as pastor, if needed.  Also, my former pastor... who is retired, fills in when needed.

[Ukulelemike 3,534]

Yes. My wife....

 

 

 

 

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[Kitagrl 570]

We had a youth pastor for two years but it ended up being disastrous.  We haven't had once since.  But we have a small church.  We actually don't even have deacons, because our church is small, and also there is no one qualified and/or willing.   For decisions, the church just has a mens' meeting to discuss business, and then it is brought in front of the church.  The finances are kept by 2-3 trusted men.   And it works fine.  Although my husband would love to find a new youth pastor, but our church cannot afford to pay one.

[Bro K 218]

We had a youth pastor for two years but it ended up being disastrous.  We haven't had once since.  But we have a small church.  We actually don't even have deacons, because our church is small, and also there is no one qualified and/or willing.   For decisions, the church just has a mens' meeting to discuss business, and then it is brought in front of the church.  The finances are kept by 2-3 trusted men.   And it works fine.  Although my husband would love to find a new youth pastor, but our church cannot afford to pay one.

I very seldom hear of a "youth pastor"; down here they are referred to as youth minister. Pastor identifies a man who has been chosen by the Assembly  to oversee the church.

I have a problem with paying anyone (except the Pastor) to do work within the church. Maybe some of the Pastors here can give us their points of view!

[Kitagrl 570]

I very seldom hear of a "youth pastor"; down here they are referred to as youth minister. Pastor identifies a man who has been chosen by the Assembly  to oversee the church.

I have a problem with paying anyone (except the Pastor) to do work within the church. Maybe some of the Pastors here can give us their points of view!

 

Well he was an ordained pastor who "pastored" the kids and teens.  Semantics, really.

 

Where we live here it is very difficult to find someone who can move here and afford housing and everything and also help.  Oh, we would love someone to volunteer!  But if you are going to move someone into town, you have to help them pay for part of it.  We have a pretty high cost of living here.   We, ourselves, will never own a home here because it is completely out of the realm of financial possibility, ever.  Our last youth guy had a job, but we paid for his apartment and a small weekly check.  But after two years he got disgruntled and decided he didn't like us anymore, so we had to part ways.  My husband was never hugely authoritative, but the few times he needed to lay down a rule, the youth guy would get mad and buck.  Oh well.    

 

 

Anyway sure, ideally, it would be nice to have volunteers.  We do have several volunteers already in our church who work with the bus and the junior church and different things, but to actually have a pastor, it is really really hard to find someone who will just move here and jump in without having some sort of help and compensation.

[Junebugwv 18]

Our church started with the founding pastor and eventually a couple became the youth leaders.  When our pastor stepped aside to run another ministry from our church because of health reasons, the new pastor brought in a young youth pastor.  Second pastor had to leave (for cause) and the young youth pastor stepped in as interim.  He showed such wisdom and growth in his life that he was called as our senior pastor at the age of 27.  He hired  an assistant pastor 3 years his junior and a youth pastor 6 years his junior.  Yes, they are young, but they are men of character and are doing a great job.  Our founding pastor is greatly respected by the pastor and he has spent many hours gleaning from the elder's experience and counsel.