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An effective executive pastor can have a profound impact on the overall well-being and trajectory of a church—either for better or for worse. That’s why wise churches need to be carefully selective when it comes to filling the role of executive pastor.
Executive pastors often oversee the church’s administration and operations, allowing the senior pastor to devote their energy to vision, teaching, and spiritual guidance.
This is no small task. Executive pastors (or “XPs”) are like the special ops leaders of ministry—able to parachute into any ministry situation, assess the circumstances, and execute well. They usually carry a multitude of vital responsibilities such as overseeing staff, managing finances, developing strategic plans, handling day-to-day operations, and ensuring the church remains steadfast in its pursuit of its vision and mission.
Whether you’re looking into hiring an exceptional executive pastor or just wanting to better understand the role that an executive pastor plays in the local church, take a look at seven important qualities of an executive pastor.
One of the chief roles of the executive pastor is to be the senior pastor’s “right-hand man.” Because one of the primary responsibilities of a senior pastor is often to cast a vision for what the local church could be, it is one of the primary executive pastor responsibilities to lead the implementation of that vision among the church staff and in its day-to-day operations.
To lead from the executive pastor role is to lead from the “second chair,” which requires humility and a willingness to do the behind-the-scenes work that is required to help the church do what it needs to do to achieve the vision cast by the senior pastor.
Likewise, because the senior pastor will often be seen as the “face” of the church among those in the community, the senior pastor may often receive most of whatever criticism is levied against the church. Part of the executive pastor’s role is to run interference for the senior pastor and redirect the undue criticism the senior pastor receives onto themself so that they can do whatever is necessary to resolve any conflict or problem that has arisen.
Some churches half-jokingly, half-seriously call their executive pastor the “pastor of getting things done.” While that nickname may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, it’s a pretty good summary of what many churches expect and need out of whoever fills the executive pastor role on the church roster.
While every church is different and handles leadership differently, it is common that a good executive pastor implements the vision of the senior pastor.
The executive pastor leads the charge when it comes to hiring the right staff for the best roles, stewarding the church’s finances in the best ways possible, and making sure all of the other puzzle pieces in church operations fall into place such that the church can do effective, God-glorifying ministry in its community and around the world.
Most churches aren’t flush with bottomless buckets of cash or other such resources, so it is also often the executive pastor’s job to squeeze a lot of ministry effectiveness out of limited resources (and usually in a short period of time). That’s why it's important for great executive pastors to have the ability to “think outside the box” and find unique, efficient ways to solve problems in short order and often with limited resources.
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Because the expectations and responsibilities of an executive pastor are so diverse and wide-ranging in their urgency and importance, an executive pastor must be flexible and able to address a variety of problems of different degrees of severity in a short period of time.
XPs have to be experts at changing gears on a moment’s notice. They may be in the middle of a low-key check-in with a youth ministry staff member about upcoming youth ministry events and be urgently called into an emergency financial meeting regarding changes in state tax statutes.
Of course, an executive pastor may excel at one kind of work over another—and that’s okay!—but the executive pastor needs to be ready to do all kinds of work. They may be called on to do everything from water the flowers to preaching on Sunday morning.
While the executive pastor often fills the church’s role of “chief businessman,” it is important that executive pastors remember that—though they need to crunch numbers and balance budgets—the executive pastor position is ultimately a people job, not just a task job.
Executive pastors must remember and recognize that different church members have different levels of sensitivity and expectations for communication. Some church members may expect a pastor to communicate in a way that is unusual or uncomfortable for the executive pastor, and the pastor should recognize and respect these expectations.
Because the executive pastor is likely involved in some level of socialization in their work—whether in leading meetings, counseling church members, or other such work—the pastor must remember that everyone needs some level of empathy and compassion.
An effective executive pastor will be quick to listen and slow to speak, even when they are fielding criticisms of their work or the work of church leadership in general.
The role of executive pastor is not for the faint of heart. It is a high-stress job that is consumed with keeping the day-to-day operations of the church in motion. Also, unlike the senior pastor who often gets much of the accolades and attention from church members, the executive pastor’s work is usually behind-the-scenes and thankless.
So the executive pastor needs to have the humility to do some of the hardest church work while often receiving little or no recognition for a job well done.
Church work is hard work. It ought not be forgotten that ministries face not only natural challenges, but also spiritual adversity. Because the executive pastor serves as the leader of the church staff, it is their job to rely on the Holy Spirit in the work of leading the church.
Right or wrong, the executive pastor is often the cornerstone of the church staff, the rock around which the rest of the team is built (except for the true Cornerstone of Jesus, of course). Because of this, the executive pastor has to maintain a high level of composure and stability. For as the executive pastor goes, so does the rest of the church staff go.
It is the job of the executive pastor to have one eye on the present and one eye on the future at all times. This is just one reason why the role of executive pastor is one of the most challenging on a church staff member.
The executive pastor must simultaneously focus on maintaining the day-to-day operations of the local church while also thinking, strategizing, and executing the long-term vision of the senior pastor and the church as a whole.
The church must always be adapting to the needs of its surrounding community, keeping a keen awareness of broader culture and its impact on how ministry may be most effective at any given time. While many on the church staff may share the burden of assessing the needs of the community and the trends of the culture, it ultimately falls to the executive pastor to lead any action that should take place.
The executive pastor has no other choice: they must be detail-oriented. In fact, it’s fair to say that one of the primary distinctions between a senior pastor and an executive pastor is that the senior pastor tends to be more big-picture oriented while the executive pastor tends to be more detail-oriented.
It is in the details that the most ministry actually happens, most often. Without details like location reservations, precise budgets, staff communication, and other such particulars, events would not be effective, money would be missing, and church staff would be out of the loop.
While every role on a church staff has its own responsibilities and areas of focus, the executive pastor needs to keep an eye on all of them at all times, making sure that any details that may be dropped are picked up and handled effectively.
Executive pastors play a crucial role in the success and growth of a church community. And as in any profession or trade, having the right tools can make all of the difference between success or failure.
One of the most important pieces of any executive pastor’s toolbelt is a powerful church management software (ChMS) because it allows them to:
While most ChMS platforms only offer some of these features, Subsplash One incorporates all of these tools as well as church websites, mobile apps, live streaming, online giving, and much, much more!
To learn how Subsplash can help your executive pastor be even more effective than ever, [.blog-contact-cta]connect with one of our Ministry Consultants today! [.blog-contact-cta]
