“News for Two” is an informal e-mail newsletter that seeks to provide ministry to couples engaged in, or interested in, “Shared Pastoral Ministry.” The purpose of the “Two by Two” network is to facilitate dialogue between couples involved in Shared Pastoral Ministry, so your response to any of the articles found below is encouraged.
The October (Final?) Edition: The CONTENTS lists a brief description of the ARTICLES that are found below.
Russ Dean, Editor
October 26, 2001
www.parkroadbaptist.org - click the link for “A Network for Shared Pastoral Ministry”
CONTENTS
1. One Year Later…
A survey conducted at Park Road Baptist indicates that after a year with co-pastors, they still believe “it takes two”! The article gives a few brief highlights; the complete survey can be found on the website.
2. Across the Pond
The article consists of excerpts from interviews with three couples serving in Europe.
3. The Couple or the Concept?
Amy and I have a working hypothesis that, due to the visual mutuality of shared pastoral ministry, there is an intrinsic value to this “shape” of ministry that will create an atmosphere fostering more lay-involvement than with traditional ministry. We invited a “focus group,” formed from the leadership of our church, to see if this hypothesis shows any signs of truth. Is there something intrinsically “better” about shared pastoral ministry, or do they just like us?
There have been more than 125 visits to our website, and the link for “A Network for Shared Pastoral Ministry.” There is a growing collection of resources there, along with the growing database of couples. Please check out the site, and feel free to make use of the resources. I’d love your feedback russdean@parkroadbaptist.org. (There is no article on the website.)
5. Where to we go from here?
With this newsletter, I am wrapping up my work on my D.Min. project, but I would like to stay in touch. I would love to gather a small group to steer the continued direction of the network now that we have at least a database to work from. If you would be willing to help, please let me know. (There is no article below, just contact me at russdean@parkroadbaptist.org.
ARTICLES
1. One Year Later…
As Amy and I were approaching our one-year anniversary in shared pastoral ministry, in an effort to learn more about how the church was responding to our vision, I distributed the following survey on a Wednesday night. The Wednesday crowd is the core of our church, and out of about 75 in attendance that night, 56 people responded to the survey. The results might be of particular interest to couples and churches who are interested in pursuing shared pastoral ministry, because they indicate that our church, which had never before had a woman on its ministerial staff, and had never considered a co-pastoral team, learned and adjusted very quickly to the concept.
Here are some highlights from the survey:
• 47 ( %) indicated they were excited when they first learned the committee was interviewing a couple
• 38 ( %) indicated that information published by the search committee, before they ever met us, convinced them of the legitimacy of shared pastoral ministry
• 47 ( %) regard a “variety in preaching styles” as an important benefit of shared pastoral ministry (this was the highest percentage of the five choices given)
• 21 ( %) find “no weaknesses” in shared pastoral ministry as a model of leadership
• 48 ( %) say they would advise another church to consider shared pastoral ministry
The complete survey is available on the website (www.parkroadbaptist.org). Click the link for A Network for Shared Pastoral Ministry, and then the link for Articles and Resources.
2. Across the Pond
The practice of shared pastoral ministry is neither new, nor geographically limited. In my search, I have found couples from California to Florida to New York. I have also interviewed three couples serving together in Europe. A brief excerpt of these interviews is found here. A more complete transcript of the interviews can be found on the website, under the link for “Articles and Resources.”
1. Walter and Andrea Klimt have served together in shared pastoral ministry since 1987. They have two children, and serve in Austria in student ministry, and in a church, which they planted two years ago. You can e-mail them at a9209618@unet.univie.ac.at.
2. One couple, who serve in the U.S. Army, asked not to be identified by name.
• How long have your served together? We served three churches in the states for about ten years.
• How did you decide to practice shared pastoral ministry? We were in seminary together, and just decided that we could do this. There were no models.
• How open is your denomination? Women’s ministry is accepted and encouraged by the leadership… but there is not as much acceptance from the grass roots level. And, there seems to be more accepted in the Eastern U.S. than in the West.
• Tell me about your current work? My husband serves as an army chaplain. I volunteer. I participate in all aspects of the ministry, even preaching as much as I want. Because of the possibility of being called up at the same time, though, it would be difficult for us both to serve, officially. But, the military is encouraging and wide-open for women’s leadership and advancement. There are many women in the military now, and there is a great need for female leadership in ministry.
3. Emanuel and Ilse Wieser served as the pastors of the Ruschlikon Baptist Church in Ruschlikon, Switzerland from 1979 – 1986….Currently, they serve at the Mollard Gasse Baptist Church in Vienna, Austria, where Emanuel works as the pastor and Ilse works as a counselor.
• Do you have a sense of how the European climate is different from the American climate toward women in ministry, and the acceptance of shared pastoral ministry? Emanuel: There are many unions. Some are not supportive at all. The Baptist Union in Italy is supportive, and we know one couple serving together in Germany… Many churches are free within our borders to call whomever they please as their pastor(s).
• Amy and I share a working hypothesis that there is something intrinsic to the structure of shared pastoral ministry, which, because it models equality and mutuality, will foster more lay-involvement and better ministry. Is this true? Emanuel: This is a valid point, but this can be expressed in other ways, also. Shared pastoral ministry does model some important things, though. For us, ironically, we were able to model these things especially in the church in which Ilse was not allowed to minister, officially.
• Would you recommend shared pastoral ministry to other couples? Emanuel: In the long run, I believe it is a more difficult path in ministry. There is a real challenge to keep from pulling each other down with the dual pressures of serving together… Couples should be aware of the expectations and challenges.
3. The Couple or the Concept?
Though we hoped to “prove” the intrinsic advantage of shared pastoral ministry to traditional ministry, the conversation did not bear this out. Many of the advantages, which we envision in shared pastoral ministry, were identified by the focus group, but the disadvantages were also noted. One person said that when it works right, “it would be hard to beat shared pastoral ministry with a single minister,” but there was no evidence to the group that this would always be the case. In the final analysis, the group was unable to separate the personalities of their pastors in specific, and the success they happen to be enjoying at the present, with shared pastoral ministry as a “concept” to be evaluated. The most salient portions of the conversation have been included below.
Carol: What about the team concept, itself, in ministry?
• Buck: I call it the “co-problem.” “Co-Chair equals no chair!” Dual accountability means no accountability. So, to find a couple with whom there is no perception of dominance is rare. This is a major factor in [Amy and Russ’] success. There is advantage in the great variety a couple can bring. Especially, for me, in preaching… Also, I saw this in the recent past in a specific pastoral situation. When [a church member] was dying, [he] wanted to see Russ, definitely. And his wife… had a great need to speak with Amy. And they were both able to be there for them.
• Sandy: Your gifts balance each other so well. A couple involved in shared pastoral ministry need to be very secure. And, when this happens, it would be hard to beat shared pastoral ministry with a single minister.
Russ: Back to the issue of “co-chair equals no chair”… Why are we so biased against equality in leadership? Why are we so uncomfortable with more than one person in charge? Where did this idea come from?
• Buck: The Romans!
• Carol: It’s all around us. Government, business…
• Russ: Yes, I agree that it is all around us. But that doesn’t guarantee that it’s better. Is there anything more “naturally” better, more intrinsically “obvious” about hierarchical leadership, about one person being in charge, than about a shared leadership? Is it possible that what we are trying to get at is a more “naturally” good model, more of what God intended – that we be “co-creators with God”?
• Carol: Maybe that is a theoretical possibility, but we are combating two huge problems. First is the model of leadership by hierarchy. The second is… leadership by men only.
• Chris: You know just where the “buck stops” in the pyramid model. And, people tend to focus on their level of the pyramid. But with Shared Pastoral Ministry we get a whole different view of the structure. It adds complexity to the picture.
Amy: Is that an advantage?
• Chris: Constructively it can be a huge advantage. Why wouldn’t humans prefer the interaction, the relationship with two people as opposed to just one person. I think that there are advantages that we haven’t even begun to see or understand yet.
• Buck: One of the greatest strengths, I feel, is that our congregation can see them disagreeing. I hope that they are never pressured to feel that they have to walk in lock-step on issues.
Carol: What about the model itself, the idea that equality at the “top” serves as a model for the rest? Are people more willing to step up and take responsibility because equality and mutuality have been shared in a visual way by our leaders?
• Bill: I can’t answer that, but it seems to me that this year the Board of Education did not have nearly the trouble recruiting teachers. That we are well ahead of where we were last year on this matter.
• Chris: It seems to me that there is an obvious correlation between the success of the CDC and Russ and Amy’s relationship with it.
Carol: We seem to have agreement that this model is very successful for us here, to this point. How much of this is a matter of the personalities of Russ and Amy, and how much is a matter of the structure of Shared Pastoral Ministry itself?
Sandy: Very much has to do with Russ and Amy. This could bomb with other couples. Dot: Russ and Amy combine skill and the personality that matches us. Not everyone would bring the same sets of abilities as they do.