The Baptist Union of Victoria has had more than 20 years of developing pastoral review processes and has facilitated hundreds of pastoral reviews in its churches. This strong history of learning is offered to Baptist Churches and pastors through the work of the Pastoral Leadership Support and Development team.
Along the way we’ve discovered that Pastoral Reviews are unlike reviews in most workplaces:
- While the pastor is a servant of the church, the church – i.e. the “employer” – is not the pastor’s master. God is. So the pastor’s role must always be discerned and negotiated between the pastor and the church.
- Pastors do not have a single manager to define their priorities; they have a whole congregation of people with needs, desires and expectations. The fact that the people doing the review are the pastor’s congregation creates all sorts of unique dynamics.
- Pastoral performance is often dependent on the church’s circumstances and constraints. For example, it is not unknown for churches to encourage goals for the pastor to achieve and then deny the pastor the resources and opportunities to achieve them.
So, what we review in a pastoral review is the relationship between the church and the pastor. We ask:
- What’s working well in the relationship between church and pastor that can be celebrate and further enhanced and developed for the good of the Kingdom of God?
- What’s causing some tension that can be put on the table and resolved together before it becomes the source of conflict?
As part of the process, it is usually appropriate to do some evaluation of how the pastor is going about their job. But this should only evaluated in the context of an agreed pastoral job description/statement of pastoral priorities. Even here the purpose is to see how the relationship between church and pastor can be enhanced.
The Pastoral Leadership Support and Development team has developed a three year comprehensive review that pastors are required to complete as part of thier accreditation requirement. Pastoral Reviews can be accessed through your Regional Pastor:
Pastoral Review processes can involve:
- Questionnaires filled in by the Pastor and an appointed Pastoral Review Group
- Questionnaires filled in by the whole church
- Interviews
- Conversations between the Pastor and a Pastoral Review Group
- Processes of prayer and discernment
There is enormous value in a Pastoral Review being facilitated by someone from outside the church who is committed to the wellbeing of Church and Pastor without being a stakeholder in the recommendations that emerge. Such a person can facilitate a process that is fair, robust and gracious.
Good Pastoral Reviews never subject a Pastor to unfair scrutiny. Managed by a good process, they can richly enhance the experience and fruitfulness of both Church and Pastor.
To discuss Pastoral Reviews further, please contact your Regional Pastor. Their contact details can be found HERE