Walking in the Shadow of the Leader: How to Be an Affective Assistant to Your Leader

By Rev. John R. Laura Jr.

This book is really a handbook designed to help young and newly called ministers to get a better understanding of how to discern their duties to the head shepherd of the local church they serve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477251713

Rev. John R. Laura Jr.

I HAVE CHOSEN TO WRITE THIS BOOK BECAUSE I FEEL THAT TO MANY CHURCH LEADERS WITHIN A CHURCH MINISTRY HAVE A MIS-CONCEPTION OF WHAT THEIR ROLE IS TO THE CHIEF LEADER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. FOR MANY YEARS I HAVE WITNESS HOW PASTORS HAVE HAD TO STRUGGLE WITH FRUSTRATIONS WITH DEALING WITH PEOPLE THEY HAVE APPOINTED TO SERVE WITH THEM AND THEY HAVE BECOME OVER BEARING OR JUST DIS-REPECTFUL TO THE ROLES THEY HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED TO FUNCTION IN. I’VE LISTEN TO MANY PASTORS COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW THEIR ASSOCIATE MINISTERS FEEL THAT HE IS OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE TO THEM MORE RESPONSIBILITIES THAN THEY DO. AND TO MANY TIMES PASTORS HAVE TO SPEND TO MUCH VALUABLE TIME RE-DIRECTING ASSISTANT LEADERS TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO WORK WITH HIM IN HARMONY TO MAINTAIN A COOPERATIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM THAT SUPPORTS THE HEAD PASTORS AGENDA FOR THE CHURCH HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. THIS BOOK I HOPE WILL HELP ALL LEADERS WITH IN A CHURCH MINISTRY UNDERSTAND IT IS A PRIVILEDGE TO BE USED BY A PASTOR IN THEIR CHURCH AND ENCOURAGE THEM HOW NOT TO BE AN HINDERANCE TO THE CULTURE AND PROGRESS OF THE MINISTRIES SUCCESS.

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© 2012, 2015 by Rev. John R. Laura Jr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse    01/28/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5169-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5171-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913130

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Table of Contents

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The Birth of This Book

Introduction

Who Is the Associate?

What Makes an Effective Associate Minister?

Being humble

Submitting to authority

Recognizing the privilege of the call

What Is the Associate’s Purpose in the Church He Serves?

Carrying out the shepherd’s agenda

Demonstrating consistent follow ship

Confirming the pastor’s direction in your walk

Walking before the congregation

The Benefits Gained for Loyalty to the Pastor

Seeing the mentor at work

The relationship with the mentor

Being recognized for loyal service to leadership

Gaining valuable pastoral wisdom

Avoiding being the devil’s toy

How to Preach in a Pastor’s Pulpit

What to preach

How long to preach

Don’t forget the commercial

How to Avoid the Bighead Syndrome

Don’t believe the hype

Check yourself before you wreck yourself

Let your gift reveal its worth

How to Avoid the Praise Picnics

How to handle compliments

How long to hang with parishioners

Benediction

Beginning This Walk

To my family, who has made great sacrifices to allow me to make this book a reality, especially my wife, Cheryl Lynn Laura, for her continuous support and for pushing me to become the best minister I can be. To my pastor and best friend, your leadership has made this work exciting and enjoyable.

The Birth of This Book

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The inspiration for writing this book comes from the many years of service I’ve had under one of the most sharing and nurturing men of God I’ve ever known. That man is my pastor, Joe A. Games. When accepting my call to the ministry, I really had no true understanding of what God wanted out of my life. I really couldn’t see what I as an individual of my background could even offer God or how I could become an effective influence in his kingdom-building process.

But serving under a man of God who has a genuine desire to see all his leaders and parishioners get the best out of themselves and get a clear understanding of what God wants to do for them and what he can accomplish in their lives has helped me better recognize my role in the church I serve.

This book is really a handbook designed to help young and newly called ministers to get a better understanding of how to discern their duties to the head shepherd of the local church they serve.

I also believe this book will help assistant pastors and associate ministers better appreciate the privilege of walking in their role as they walk in their pastor’s shadow. I’ve seen many men and women who have the opportunity to become great church administrators, pastors, and leaders in their church, allow themselves to get caught up in personal opinions of how they should be utilized in their church.

I’m writing this book in the hopes that it can be a guiding light to those who are assistants to a pastor, so they can avoid the one thing that can destroy their ministry before it can grow. All persons who have the privilege to ride in the second chariot must be aware that the devil will ask for them and desires to sift them like wheat by stroking their egos and pumping up their pride. This device of the evil one has often prevented the great relationships that aspiring preachers need to have with their pastors.

My goal in this book is to help any leader in a church to recognize the privilege and the honor in riding in the second chariot and to learn to love walking in the pastor’s shadow. There is power in the shadow. If your curiosity influenced you to obtain this book, I’m willing to bet that you have asked the same question I’m about to ask your enquiring mind: Why is it so difficult for so many people with outstanding talent, great minds, and numerous abilities to wait for their appointed time in the spotlight as the head man in charge?

I have come to recognize that all of us have a hidden desire to grasp the opportunity to be numero uno when there is glory to be obtained. This type of self-centered thinking is the very poison that often kills individuals who are in a position to become a great leader in whatever church ministry they serve in.

My fellow preachers, there are so many different types of unexpected trials we can come up against in the stream of our preaching ministry. And if we don’t handle ourselves correctly, we can so easily close doors of opportunities, even before we really get a grip on what it is to be good news ambassadors for God.

Sometimes we can become so overwhelmed with the excitement of just being accepting into the fraternity of preaching that we walk naively and become captive to some of the simple distractions that have hurt many aspiring preachers. The most dangerous distractions or trials in the way of a young or new preacher come in the most harmless form you can imagine.

One of those forms is compliments, such as wonderful words people say about you when you finish preaching to them. These may be spoken by people you have just met who don’t have a clue whether you are a genuine ambassador of God’s regime or another