Logistics > Juggling Multiple Hats/Roles

In most conferences, the Ministerial Director will carry responsibilities that go beyond just Ministerial. In general, there are three likely possibilities, each with their own unique challenges:

You are also an administrator of your conference or union

If you are also an administrator, you are saddled with an inherent conflict of interest between your roles as administrator and pastor's pastor. Pastors will not automatically feel that you can easily put on your Ministerial Director's hat while fully removing their administrator hat. You will have to work to find ways to help your pastors feel safe and free to come to you with their issues.

Perhaps the best way to help pastors feel they can come to you is to make extra effort to prove yourself safe by specifically nurturing relationships with your pastors. You will have to demonstrate by your demeanor, language, and actions, that even though you are an administrator, you will handle their confidential information appropriately. In order to do this, you will also have to have an understanding with the other officers on your team that there will be times you will choose to be more the pastor's pastor than the pastor's supervisor. That may mean keeping some information confidential that you might otherwise share with your administrative colleagues. But if you cannot at least do this, then it would be best to not make any pretense that you can function fully as the pastor's pastor.

Many administrators who are also Ministerial Directors think that the force of their past relationships with their pastors or their personality or their level of skill in pastoral ministry will break down walls that might separate others who share their unique situation. But in reality, it's very rare that the pastors will free as free as the administrator/Ministerial Director thinks they are. If this is the case, please do not take this personally. It's not about you as a person. It's about you and the important administrative role you carry.

One additional step that might work in your conference is to recruit a field pastor or two whom you trust and ask them to stand in for you when a pastor in your field needs someone confidential with whom to talk. Experienced and highly regarded pastors in your conference can be a tremendous help to you in providing pastoral care to the other pastors in your field. If you are able to do this, make sure to communicate their willingness to talk with a colleague and that you personally support this.

You are responsible for additional departments in your conference or union

You are a field pastor as well as Ministerial Director