Pastoral Ambition 2

by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

Thank you for sharing your reactions and responses from last week’s article, The Place Of Pastoral Ambition. I heard from a pastor who’s connected with us at Pinnacle for years, nearing retirement, sharing that pastoral ambition is a key ingredient in discernment regarding the timing of retirement. I heard from another pastor who’s serving his second church, pursuing those first half of life goals, indicating he’s spent a year sorting and refining his perspective on pastoral ambition. A current coaching client, interviewing with call committees, shared an interesting question from her most recent interview. “If we called you as pastor, after the first year, how would you know if your ministry among us is successful?” My coaching client astutely observed, “You can tell a lot about a church by the questions the call committee asks.” Great insight. Even more, this pastor was required to describe what successful pastoral leadership looks like right there in that moment. Does anyone want unambitious pastor(s) for their church?

Pastoral ambition, it seems, is not an irrelevant or academic topic for active clergy and church staff persons.

You may recall that my last article identified four phrases, inviting readers to consider potential definitions. Perhaps a helpful way to further this pastoral ambition conversation is to engage through these terms. They are different from each other, though interrelated like webbing.

Pastoral Ambition

Ambition = “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.” —Google Online Dictionary

Take a look at this definition again. Do you find fault with ambition as defined here? Were you an employer outside of religious contexts, would you want ambitious people on your team as employees? Most of us grow up being shaped by the idea that we are called to be stewards of our gifts and graces, responsible for making the most of what we have to work with. Employers know that one ambitious employee is worth three unmotivated employees, helping their organization or business move forward. In nearly every area of our lives, ambition is respected and desired.

The definition above, plus our experience in the world, suggests ambition is a quality to be admired and pursued. Why then is there hesitation around pastoral ambition, around pastors being ambitious? This second phrase provides guidance here.

Pastoral Motivation

Motivation = 1. “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.” 2. “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” —Google Online Dictionary

What’s driving the ambition, the desire to achieve?

Pastoral ambition, I might suggest, is healthiest when it’s motivated by these two components:

Mission – Ambition at it’s best in clergy is about the mission; on advancing the good news of the gospel, so to speak. The work of ministry includes aligning the activity of our churches with the mission of God to transform this world toward God’s kingdom (or reign, or commonwealth). This is different than raw ambition, which may include efforts to promote oneself, rather than the mission of God through churches. Many of you who have participated in my training events over time will remember The Three Little Laws Of Leadership. Leadership is about the mission, not about us personally. Pastoral ambition then is about the mission, not raising appreciation, respect, nor regard for ourselves.

Stewardship – Here is where the self, who we are personally, is relevant. Ambitious clergy believe God has given them gifts and graces, followed by inviting them into partnership with God. Ambitious clergy believe they are responsible for developing themselves to the best of their ability, thereby making the best contribution to the mission as possible. These clergy are eager to see what they can do with their unique gift set, serving in God’s vineyard, stewarding their gifts.

Pastoral Success

Success = the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Motivated and ambitious people, regardless of career, want to know what it means to be successful in their chosen vocations. Clergy and church staff are no different. How do I/we know when I/we are successful in this work? Motivated persons want to know.

Success, though, is a tricky concept. In pastoral ministry, simply using the word success raises theological and personal issues. Rather than write several pages on this topic (which I’m tempted to do), I will offer an observation. Working with clergy and church staff over time, they seem to move through stages of understanding in their definitions of success (generalizing observation here, I know). The movement is from surface layers to deeper layers of experience. Most begin with those organizational metrics with which we are so familiar: buildings, bodies, and budgets (the three B’s). We look at organizational metrics to evaluate our ministry success. Over time, many start to wonder if these metrics actually reflect the mission. Is this what Jesus called us to, in other words? Moving toward words like transformation, mission, and engagement indicates pastors may be redefining their understanding of success…aligning their perspective with the mission. Often their questions become something like:

• Who is being transformed as a result of participating with this church?

• Where are the stories of transformation rising up among us?

• How are we different as people this year, compared to this time last year, because we are church together?

• How is our community different because this church is here?

• Who is entering a life of faith as a result of our church’s love and engagement?

• How is the kingdom (or reign or commonwealth) of God coming more fully on earth (in our community) as a result of our collective activity?

• (And there are so many more)

And then there is the question of moving to a larger church, climbing the ecclesiastical ladder, so to speak. I’m coaching a pastor who served in a pastoral size church over a decade, eventually growing slightly bored and stale. Now this pastor is serving in a program size church with new challenges causing her to learn new skills and function in new ways. This pastor is ready for this different kind of responsibility.

The difference in whether this kind of move is climbing the ecclesiastical ladder or is growing into a different kind of ministry is crucial. American culture says bigger is better. In the commonwealth of Christ we believe every form of ministry has dignity, deserving respect. Being in the fitting place for the fitting time is more important than size. This perspective makes all the difference, being shaped by faith-based values rather than culture.

Well, there’s so much more to explore around the topic of pastoral ambition. I hope you have a coaching group with whom to explore further, or some form of conversation partners. I look forward to exploring pastoral ambition further with you. In the meantime, don’t wait until your motives for pastoral ministry are perfectly pure, since that doesn’t happen this side of heaven. Go ahead and follow your passion to serve faithfully and vigorously. At the same time, may we constantly be refined into more fit servants in God’s vineyard as we go.