One of the grey areas in lay ministry is the role of the associate pastor. The situation is different in large churches, but in small churches—especially those with 200 people or fewer—I have often seen the role become awkward. Simply put, the position of the associate pastor can be ambiguous. Since we have not studied this role in depth within our lay ministry system, it is not always easy to define exactly where the associate pastor should stand and what the associate pastor should do.
In lay ministry, however, the roles of the pastor and the laity are distinct. The pastor is the equipper, and the laity are the ministers.So where is the best place for an associate pastor?
Naturally, the associate pastor should become part of the pastoral team of equippers. In many cases, this means participating in the teaching and equipping ministry of the church.
The real problem is not the associate pastor joining the pastoral team. The difficulty comes when the associate pastor feels a sense of emptiness because laypeople are now doing much of the pastoral work that the associate pastor previously performed. The associate pastor may begin to ask, “Then what am I supposed to do? Isn’t the work I was hired to do already being done?”
In some churches, this is exactly what happens.
For example, a new associate pastor was hired by a small church that had been practicing our Lay Pastoral Ministry for several years. The church already had a well-established group of lay pastors who were actively caring for the congregation. Before coming to this church, the associate pastor had done many kinds of pastoral work in other churches. But after arriving, the pastor discovered that much of the work they had previously done was already being carried out by the laypeople.
The associate pastor began to think, “This church is very strange. The members have a good system in which they take care of one another and do so much of the ministry themselves!”
Although the associate pastor had learned many things in seminary, they had never been taught that laypeople could take such an active role in pastoral ministry. This was a completely new paradigm.
When the senior pastor recognized the associate pastor’s struggle, he said, “You should learn from the laypeople so that you can learn how to do ministry in this church.”
The leader of the LPM team also began attending the pastors’ meetings. They shared what was happening in the church and discussed the situation together. Gradually, the associate pastor began to understand and adapt to the church’s lay ministry system.
I believe this is one of the best possible outcomes: the associate pastor learns lay ministry.
The principle, “If you don’t know it, learn it,”is not only for kindergarten children. It is also an important principle for adults—and especially for pastors. An associate pastor can learn by observing the senior pastor, watching how lay ministry operates, and seeing how the congregation responds when laypeople are empowered to minister.
The associate pastor can also provide administrative support when needed. In some churches, the associate pastor becomes part of a leadership group and contributes in this way. There is certainly an important place for the associate pastor.
But there is one principle that must not be forgotten:
The keys should be given to the laity.
If the associate pastor takes the keys back, the church can easily return to the old system. The laity become “unemployed” again, because the pastor has taken over the ministry that they were called and equipped to do.
When everything becomes dependent on the associate pastor, lay leadership development stops.
The goal of lay ministry is not to make the associate pastor unnecessary. The goal is to help the associate pastor become an equipper of ministersrather than the person who does all the ministry.
Therefore, the associate pastor has an important role: teach, equip, encourage, coordinate, and develop leaders—but do not take the ministry away from the laity.
The pastor equips.
The laity minister.
And together, they build up the body of Christ.