Tim Dyer from John Mark Ministries addressed the sources and uses of power in ministry. The MP3 and powerpoint of it will be an the Whitley Website next week.

Tim helped us discuss 4 sources of power in ministry, and how to build trust and maintain integrity in each of these areas:

- Knowledge and information

- Personal information (since pastors have broader access to family systems in time and location than most other professions)

- Position (and the dilemma of wanting to empower everyone in the congregation for ministry, but people still look to the pastor as a special representative of the church/ God)

- Facilitation of community (and when someone comes to a church it is often the pastor who can most effectively help the person find a place of belonging and a role where they can contribute)

He used Rod Bulpit's model for using power wisely and well, and explained that a healthy church system relies on the health of the congregation, the pastor and the denomination. If the church or pastor or denomination is having a bad day (or year or decade) and the other two are healthy, then there is still less room for trouble. But if 2 or 3 of the players are dysfunctional, stretched, engaging significant change, then this creates substantially more space for something to go wrong in the use of power. Thus, he concluded, and explored in greater detail with some stories, we need healthy denominations, healthy supported pastors, and congregations moving towards greater health.

The healthy congregations area was a topic for another day, although he did introduce some tools he uses that evaluates leadership style and congregational expectations (and the subsequent potential for conflict), and a power analysis tool of influential people in congregations - to remind us as pastors to ensure partcularly good relationships are kept up with them.

But the biggest thing I took away from the day was Tim suggesting that healthy pastors need three supports:

1. A supervisor, mentor and/or spiritual director (1-on-1)

2. A peer support group

3. A partner or soul friend

He said the first one, in particular, is a key indicator for longevity in ministry, and referred to some pastors who are cutting down on conferences (and their expense), so they can engage more pro- actively in being professionally mentored/supervised (and its expense).

Darren Cronshaw September 6 2007