The Arkansas UMC has a very good e-mail network through which news, commentary, prayer requests, and so much other very good information passes. It is a very good way to stay in touch and share ideas.
Often there are also requests for information and ideas about what works, what doesn't, Sunday school ideas and PPR information. Today a brother submitted a request for any kind of PPR information that spells out a congregation's "expectations" of a pastor, sort of a job description. In turn, he also asked whether anyone had information about a congregational "job description" perhaps as in what the pastor may reasonably expect in return.
Does such a thing exist? Should such a thing exist? To a degree, of course, a pastor does indeed answer to his or her congregation but not to such an extent that a job description would become necessary. True? The pastor essentially answers to the DS, the bishop, and the cabinet. The expectations of a pastor are pretty much already in place, are they not?
On the flip side, if a PPR committee were to submit to a new pastor what he or she could come to expect from a congregation, what might such a document look like? And would the PPR be able to assure the pastor that the congregation would truly be willing to live up to these expectations?
Overall, the request was such as I had never heard of before. I've been a part-time local pastor since 1999 and I have yet to see any such thing in a charge conference packet. My evaluation comes with annual sit-downs with the DS and with the DCOM with some feedback from the congregation and, I suppose, some expectations but certainly no independent "list" of what the local church "expects" from its pastor.
Is there such a thing?
No comments:
Post a Comment