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The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church

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C. S. Lewis, in his introduction to a translation of Athanasius "On the Incarnation," made the fundamental assertion that reading the "old books" provides the best education. To do so opens one's vision past the interpreters and leads one into the ideas of the past that have been so easily forgotten. I think of this every time I look at a theological that finds its foundation, not simply in history, but in an exegesis of the Word, and then is built-upon with a sound history. The situation become even more enjoyable when the document is thorough in its approach to the subject at hand.

Back in my undergrad days at Grace in Omaha, Dr. Charles Nichols ("Chuck"), along with the staff at then Westbrook Evangelical Free Church, taught and put in place a leadership model based on multiple elders working in parity. Our education in this was good, but, as one would expect in the undergraduate world, not as thorough as one would receive at higher levels of academic rigor. That's just the nature of undergraduate studies - there just is not the same focus as in seminary and post-graduate work.

Recently our local church pastor picked up Timothy Witmer's The Shepherd Leader as a study for church leadership. This is the first, that I have come across, serious Biblical and historical treatment of the structural context of shepherding. Several chapters of this work deserve to exist as components in a larger systematic theology of ecclesiology.

What Dr. Witmer does not create is an elitist group of leaders that take from the local church whatever suits them, just as so many strong leaders have been (and may still be today) observed to do, raping the local church of resources in exchange for power, prestige, and status. Nor does Dr. Witmer seek to establish a passive leadership that exists as either figurehead yes-men to the senior pastor or as hard demagogues who rule the church multiple iron fists, imitating the power of the solo pastor.

What Dr. Witmer does emphasize is service, ministry, active engagement, and a clear set of Biblical principles for this course. There are no easy solutions when one counters 1800 years of error in church structure. But for those who wish to be as Biblical as possible, start here.

As a pastor, sheperding is one of those things that I often intend to do well, but find that I can let it slip through the cracks. The tyranny of the urgent can often times drive sheperding to the bottom of the list. In my seminary days and beyond, I have read many books that spoke to the issue of shpeherding. Often times shepherding can be one of those things that is easy to plan, but hard to practice. Then, I read Dr. Witmer's book...

The style in which this book is written is clear and to the point. That is, a seminarian can read and be fed, but also those who are lay leaders can read the book and not feel overwhelmed. The book is essentially laid out in three distinct parts. The first part is the Biblical foundation for shpeherding. The second part is the philosophy for shepherding. The third part is how to practice sound shepherding.

Whether this style of Biblical leadership is foreign or you have done it all your life, this book speaks in such a way that is convincing to those who have never tried this model and convicting for those who have assumed that they have always done it correctly. Dr. Witmer gives helpful insights on how to implement a good shepherding plan that is consistent with a 21st century lifestyle.

I think this book should be required reading for all elders and pastors. Even if you don't agree with some of its conculsions, there is enough in the book to make you rethink how you are leading your church. I loved this book and have asked my fellow elders to read it with me. I greatly encourage anyone who seeks to lead in their church or ministry to read it. If you are like me, you won't be able to put it down.

Every now and then a book comes your way that seems to weigh about 30 lbs. more than its peers. A couple of years ago The Shepherd Leader by Timothy Witmer was that book.

I should say at the outset, in a manner that I'm sure Witmer would appreciate, the book's great impact is not due to the author's creativity with words or concepts. It was quite the opposite actually. Witmer dusts off the biblical concept of shepherding and provides a very helpful guide to ministry.

When I say shepherding I am not saying anything that pastors, or people who have been around Christianity very long, aren't already familiar with. We know that pastors are shepherds and elders are pastors. This is drilled into our minds. However, what Witmer so helpfully does is remind us that pastor/shepherd/elder is not just a noun-but a verb!

Along these lines, the author writes in the introduction:

Therefore, this book is designed to be a practical guide 1) to convince you that shepherding provides a comprehensive framework for what you need to be doing as a church leaders and 2) to provide a practical guide to help you start a shepherding ministry among your people, or to improve the one you already have.

And this is pretty much what we have in The Shepherd Leader.

In Part 1 we see the biblical and historical foundations for shepherding or leading the people of God. Here Witmer helpfully draws some lines of continuity between our day and both the Old Testament as well as the Apostolic era. This he does with helpful interaction with the contemporary resistence to the concept of authority in general and the church in particular.

In Part 2 Witmer identifies what Shepherds are to do. This is where he gets very practical. It becomes convicting and affirming depending upon where you are. But regardless, it is helpful, refreshing and instructive.

The chapter titles explain what you are getting here. Each chapter is represented in italics: Shepherds Know, Feed, Lead, Protect, the sheep.

In Part 3 the author helps you to put it all together, or implement an effective shepherding stategy for the local church.

One of the recurring lenses that Witmer uses is the Macro and Micro concept. That is what the shepherd leader does on the large scale and what he does on the small scale. I found this to be very helpful. It helped to united the too often estranged elements of pastoral ministry. What I mean is, often times churches are really good on the individual level but then lack in the public ministry of the Word. Others do a lot of preaching and teaching but neglect discipleship. Witmer won't have that (because the Bible won't have that imbalance). He helps to show the better way of active shepherding via relationships, visitation, preaching, leading, small group discipleship and general communication.

As a church planter who is working to establish leaders this book is gold. My copy is dog eared and highlighted all over the place. It is what we use to talk through pastoral ministry with any potential elders or interns. Our other elders and I rarely reference Witmer but are very often dropping Shepherd Leader references in our conversations. Thankfully, it has permeated ministry.

If you are a pastor let me give you a few more reasons to give this book a serious look. He hits these perennail pastoral burdens:

How do you handle your back door issue? Lots of people come but not as many as you'd like get plugged in and serve. What do you do about that?
How do you handle fluid membership role?
Is there a way to anticipate counseling needs so that they don't always have to go to triage?
At the end of the day, what is my real responsibility before God for these people?
How can I develop an effective shepherding plan?
How do I develop more leaders?
What do I look for in these leaders?

I could go on and on. The book is great. It's under 300 pages so it's not exhaustive, however, it's what is needed.

This book has some good, practical advice. However the author spends an inordinate amount of time attempting to exegete an argument against the traditional pastor/laity distinction, and lobby for an understanding of shared responsibility and leadership among equal elders. It's not that his point is not valid - I believe it is. It's simply that if this is not your ecclesiastical model, he's not likely going to convince you, your congregation, or your denominational polity to completely redo the way they organize ministry. And if it already *is* your model, well, he's preaching to the proverbial choir.

He provides some good practical advice on important issues from cleaning up the membership rosters to following up on members consistently. These should become core practices for any pastor. I don't personally agree with his theological emphasis on cleaning up the membership roster, but I'm willing to concede that though his exegesis is faulty, the basic idea remains important.

Ultimately, this is a very utilitarian approach to eldering. It offers some wonderful check-list types of resources and approaches, but doesn't spend a lot of time or emphasis on the less tangible qualities of elders or the role of elder. The result is that someone is likely to read this and say "I can do that!", which is good. The bad thing is that they may not realize the breadth of what they're getting themselves into, and the emotional commitment and connection that will be required of them. Experience will give them this, but the book could provide a little more on the topic as well.

This may not be the best resource on the use of elders or pastoring techniques, but it has some worthwhile things to contribute.

This is, of necessity, substantially an inward-looking book, concerned most directly with the care of the flock of God. It is a bold call for bold shepherding of a close, personal and specific nature, with much good counsel as to how to accomplish the task, and as such is warmly commended. The principles that our author sets out are clearly and Biblically delineated, but the assumed standards (the present norm) and the designated targets (the shepherd's aims) in their outworking reveal the tragically, cripplingly low level of churchmanship that is practiced in the West today (this is not an inherent criticism of the author; I do not know his own practice). Some of his systems and recommendations can appear a little mechanical. The problem is undeniable, the principles are excellent, but the practice could do with a course of steroids.

The Shepherd Leader

"The Lord's purpose would be fulfilled in preserving a remnant of his people in his land from whom would issue the promised Messiah, the ultimate Shepherd of God's people (p. 17)"

"The responsibility to shepherd the flock is on the shepherds, not the sheep (p. 198)."

This is the first book on leadership I have come across that challenges the context in which a leader should be evaluated. Witmer also confronts the responsibility with taking on leadership with the seriousness and implications that come with it. "The casual observer can see the wisdom of the plurality of elders in a local church. That is, if it is understood that the elders are not merely called to be decision-makers but to be involved personally with the sheep (p. 41)." The authority, under Jesus, that God places in our lives is there for a reason and should not be misrepresented in a lackadaisical effort when charged with being a shepherd to others. Shepherding isn't by our efforts to promote change in the sheep, but to love them as Christ has loved us already and point them continually to that truth. "The Son of Man, the Chief Shepherd, came "not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (p. 89)."

"A proactive, loving relationship with the sheep will lead to a greater likelihood (though certainly not a guarantee) of effectiveness in winning them back from error. Another problem with a reactive approach is that it leads to the neglect of the healthy sheep. If you are only contacting members when they are negligent, when are the healthy sheep contacted for support and encouragement? After all, shouldn't those who are faithful in following Christ and supportive of the church receive the dedicated attention of the elders? Unfortunately, this is not the case in many churches (pp. 124-125)." Since the call to leadership is so significant, we should all view this resource as valuable for everyone in knowing how to recognize and encourage a leader and shepherd whether you are leading or not.

Bibliography

Witmer, Timothy Z. Shepherd Leader. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2010.

Great read if you need a reminder or want to find out more on what it means to be a shepherd and how to be more effective.