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Four Types of Church Leaders
Four Types of Church Leaders
These are three main buckets I find for church leaders as well, except I
would add a fourth bucket: maintainers.
Which are you? Indulge me for a second. See which one of these
might be you:
BUILDERS -- These are the types of leaders that like to start new
things from scratch. These are the pioneers. The church planters. The
people that see a vision from God and then set out to make it happen.
Builders come in all shapes and sizes, ages and backgrounds. While
many young dreamers start as builders, they find that the work is long
and hard. As a result, as builders get older, many become breakers,
fixers, or maintainers out of frustration, exhaustion, or disillusionment.
Lots of people WANT to be builders, but few have this as their primary
driver. Builders many times are innovators. Risk takers. They try new
things just to see if they'll work. They keep the best and discard the
rest. But builders get bored after they've built what they've built.
Maintenance is boring and unfulfilling. They get restless and look to
start something new. In the church world, that many times means
moving on to another church that offers that opportunity.
BREAKERS -- Breakers, on the other hand, have the ability to see what
is not working and literally break it. Sometimes things need to be
dismantled, torn apart and broken. Breakers can come into a church
and, with a very objective eye, identify where the holes are, where the
waste is, what's not working, and what needs to go. They're not afraid
to shoot the sacred cows. Breakers can be the real change agents that
a church might need from time to time to combat restlessness and
status quo. Breakers hate complacency and they're not afraid to
confront it. Breakers are the people many churches hire (without
knowing it) to follow a long-term pastor. In fact, breakers can initiate
the change that will quite possibly need a fixer or builder to ultimately
remedy. Breakers can find themselves in turnaround churches
repeatedly over their church careers. They enjoy this challenge and are
good at it. But breakers find their tenure many times is just a few
years... then it's time to go break something somewhere else.
These buckets of church leaders are in no way exclusive. You can have
one or more tendencies, but most usually one is more prominent than
the others.
It's important to know which bucket you feel the most at home in.
1. Which type of church leader are you? Which bucket do you find
yourself in?
2. Are you ok with that? Do you feel comfortable in your role? Are you
able to embrace who you are as a leader?
3. Do you fit where you are for the long-term?