The Ministerial Director > Getting Started > Establishing/Building Relationships With Your Pastors

Even if some conference presidents don’t see it this way, virtually all Ministerial Directors who come into this position do so with a desire to be “pastor’s pastor.” Unless you are already well-known and highly trusted within the conference in which you are serving as Ministerial Director, the only real way to truly be a pastor’s pastor is to be known and trusted by those you serve.

There is no shortcut to becoming their pastor; your new relationship with them does not entitle you to that. Time, access, familiarity, and your demeanor toward them all move you towards being their pastor. If all they ever know of you are things like evaluations, pressure to adopt a new program, or to be the hand of conference administration to dispense instructions or discipline, it will be hard to be their pastor, too!

It's especially important in your early months to do all you can to be with your pastors in as many non-threatening and low-pressure environments as possible. It might even be that your administration will allow you both the time and the budget to make your first task that of visiting every pastor on their turf. Find out who they are; ask about their district and their unique challenges; find out about their family (and keep some notes on this so that you can converse with them later about their family); find out what their dreams are; play a round of golf with them or take their family to lunch or supper. Mic Thurber has developed a software package just for NAD Ministerial Directors that may be useful to you in keeping track of such things. Contact him directly for more information.

If you do not find a way to get this done early on, you are likely to find that later on the normal demands of the job will begin to crowd out the time that’s required to really get acquainted.

The bottom line is clear and easy to understand. The more your pastors know you, the more they will trust you. And they will not share their real issues with you unless they trust you. Experienced Ministerial Directors will tell you that when they’ve been called in to deal with a pastor’s difficult issues, it’s far easier if there’s a relationship first.

You will have many important tasks to do as Ministerial Director. But most of them can wait while you get acquainted. You’ll find it time well spent. Next...