Pastoral Leadership: For the Care of Souls

By Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford

Christ's sheep need shepherding. That's where you come in.
With more than 60 years of ministry between them, Harold Senkbeil and Lucas Woodford have come to understand that everything in ministry--even administration, leadership, and planning--revolves around the ancient tradition of the care of souls. Pastors are entrusted with the care of a flock by the Good Shepherd and are called to be faithful to this task. But pastoring seems to be getting more and more difficult.
Based on a sound theological framework, Senkbeil and Woodford present a set of practical tools for church leadership and strategy. Calling on their vast experience, they encourage pastors to protect, guide, and feed their flock as Jesus would, bridging the eternal wisdom of the word of God with the everyday practicality of hands-on leadership. Originally published as Church Leadership & Strategy, this revision includes a new chapter and litany.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781683594765

Harold L. Senkbeil

Harold L. Senkbeil is executive director emeritus of DOXOLOGY: The Lutheran Center for Spiritual Care and Counsel. His pastoral experience of nearly five decades includes parish ministry, the seminary classroom, and parachurch leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the award--winning The Care of Souls,Christ and Calamity, and Dying to Live.

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LEXHAM MINISTRY GUIDES

Pastoral Leadership

For the Care of Souls

HAROLD L. SENKBEIL & LUCAS V. WOODFORD

Copyright

Pastoral Leadership: For the Care of Souls

Lexham Ministry Guides

Copyright 2021 Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford

All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at [e-mail].

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781683594758

Digital ISBN 9781683594765

Library of Congress Control Number 2021930489

Lexham Editorial: Todd Hains, Abigail Salinger

Cover Design: Joshua Hunt

Contents

SERIES PREFACE

PREFACE

PRAYER FOR THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD

CHAPTER 1

Learning Leadership from Experience

Lucas V. Woodford

CHAPTER 2

The Many Sides of Leadership

Lucas V. Woodford

CHAPTER 3

Leading Your Sheep

Harold L. Senkbeil

CHAPTER 4

Pastoral Depletion Syndrome

Harold L. Senkbeil

CHAPTER 5

The Fine Art of Leading Leaders

Harold L. Senkbeil & Lucas V. Woodford

RESOURCES

AFTERWORD

Brian Croft

WORKS CITED

Series Preface

What’s old is new again.

The church in ages past has focused her mission through every changing era on one unchanging, Spirit-given task: the care of souls in Jesus’ name. Christian clergy in every generation have devoted themselves to bringing Christ’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation to people by first bringing them to faith and then keeping them in the faith all life long.

These people—these blood-bought souls—are cared for just as a doctor cares for bodies. The first step is carefully observing the symptoms of distress, then diagnosing the ailment behind these symptoms. Only after careful observation and informed diagnosis can a physician of souls proceed—treating not the symptoms, but the underlying disease.

Attention and intention are essential for quality pastoral care. Pastors first attentively listen with Christ’s ears and then intentionally speak with Christ’s mouth. Soul care is a ministry of the Word; it is rooted in the conviction that God’s word is efficacious—it does what it says (Isa 55:10–11).

This careful, care-filled pastoral work is more art than science. It’s the practical wisdom of theology, rooted in focused study of God’s word and informed by the example of generations past. It’s an aptitude more than a skillset, developed through years of ministry experience and ongoing conversation with colleagues.

The challenges of our turbulent era are driving conscientious evangelists and pastors to return to the soul care tradition to find effective tools for contemporary ministry. (I describe this in depth in my book The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart.) It’s this collegial conversation that each author in this series engages—speaking from their own knowledge and experience. We want to learn from each other’s insights to enrich the soul care tradition. How can we best address contemporary challenges with the timeless treasures of the word of God?

In the Lexham Ministry Guides you will meet new colleagues to enlarge and enrich your unique ministry to better serve the Savior’s sheep and lambs with confidence. These men and women are in touch with people in different subcultures and settings, where they are daily engaged in learning the practical wisdom of the care of souls in real-life ministry settings just like yours. They will share their own personal insights and approaches to one of the myriad aspects of contemporary ministry.

Though their methods vary, they flow from one common conviction: all pastoral work is rooted in a pastoral habitus, or disposition. What every pastor does day after day is an expression of who the pastor is as a servant of Christ and a steward of God’s mysteries (1 Cor 4:1).

Although the authors may come from theological traditions different than yours, you will find a wealth of strategies and tactics for practical ministry you can apply, informed by your own confession of the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).

Our Lord doesn’t call us to success, as if the results were up to us: Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Cor 3:7). No, our Lord asks us to be faithful laborers in the service of souls he has purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

Nor does our Lord expect us to have all the answers: I will give you a mouth and wisdom (Luke 21:15). Jesus, the eternal Word of the Father, is the Answer who gives us words when we need them to give to our neighbors when they need them. After all, Jesus sees deeper into our hearts than we do; he knows what we need. He is the Wisdom of God in every generation (1 Cor 1:24).

But wisdom takes time. The Lord our God creates, redeems, and sanctifies merely by his words. He could give us success and answers now, but he usually doesn’t. We learn over time through challenges and frustrations—even Jesus grew over time (Luke 2:52). The Lexham Ministry Guides offer practical wisdom for the church.

Since all things are sanctified by God’s word and prayer (1 Tim 4:5), each volume in this series begins with prayer rooted in the word. We have Christ’s command and promise: Ask, and it shall be given to you (Luke 11:9).

My prayer is that these volumes will help you grow in humble appreciation of the rare honor and responsibility that Christ Jesus bestowed on you in the power and presence of his Spirit: As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you (John 20:21).

Father in heaven, as in every generation you send forth laborers to do your work and equip them by your word, so we pray that in this our time you will continue to send forth your Spirit by that word. Equip your servants with everything good that they may do your will, working in them that which is well pleasing in your sight. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Harold L. Senkbeil, General Editor

September 14, 2020

Holy Cross Day

Preface

Pastoring Christ’s sheep and lambs seems to be getting more difficult year by year. You know that, if you are a pastor. That’s why we wrote this little book. We’ve got years of ministry under our belts. We’re from two different generations, but we share one vision: pastoral ministry is nothing less than tending Jesus’ lambs and sheep, for whom he died and rose again.

Christ Jesus is the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep by name and goes out ahead of them, leading them safely through the valley of the shadow of death—beside quiet waters and into the green pastures of the bounty of his love.

This small volume reflects our conviction that everything in ministry—even parish administration, leadership, and planning—revolves around the care of souls.

This handbook in applied ministry complements The Care of Souls: Cultivating a Pastor’s Heart. Chapter 1 is the personal story of a near-catastrophic experience with wrong-headed leadership principles—an example of the pastoral depletion syndrome and its remedy, explored in chapter 4. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive survey of practical tools for leadership and church management, while chapter 3 outlines a sound theological framework for implementing those tools. Chapter 5 provides our guidance on the leading of leaders, both pastors and laity. The Resource section wraps up the book with a comprehensive survey of church leadership literature as it relates to the care of souls.

Jesus forever remains the chief Shepherd and true Bishop of his church: You were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Pet 2:25). Sheep just milling around on their own are a disaster in the making. They need protection. They need guidance. They need leadership. They need feeding. In short, they need shepherding.

That’s where you come in.

We pray that what we share in these few pages may encourage you toward excellence and faithfulness in ministry, even as it strengthens you in Jesus’ name.

Harold L. Senkbeil and Lucas V. Woodford

Ascension Day 2021

Prayer for the Ministry of the Word

Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have used Holy Scripture to shape and inform their life of prayer. The structured prayer below invites pastors and laity to pray for the ministry of God’s word in the midst of the congregation. It can be used by either individuals or groups—in which case a designated leader would begin, and others would speak the words in bold.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

O Lord, open my lips,

And my mouth will declare your praise.

Ps 51:15

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,

To dwell in your courts!

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

The holiness of your temple!

Ps 65:4

That God would bless his church with faithful servants who shall preach his word with power;

That he would open the ears and hearts of those who hear, that they may be enriched with the gifts of his grace;

That he would send forth his Spirit upon preachers and hearers, that his word may bring forth abundant fruit in accordance with his will;

Lord, in your mercy,

Hear our prayer.

That God would protect his people in every time of danger of body or soul;

That he would shield them from the perils of misbelief, despair, or other great shame and vice;

That he would grant pastors and people zealous and compassionate hearts to know and do his will for the salvation and