‘Critical ministries’ study reveals pastoral priorities, leadership challenges

A new survey from LifeWay Research has uncovered some fascinating insights about pastors’ priorities in ministry and the challenges they face in finding effective leadership for key ministries.

The online study, entitled "Critical Ministries and Their Leadership," asked 801 Southern Baptist pastors about what they considered to be critical ministries in their churches, whether those ministries have effective leadership in place and how they relate to those ministry leaders.

When pastors were asked to list up to five ministries in their order of importance, the largest group (24 percent) identified evangelism/outreach as the most important. The next six ministries identified as most important were Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (17 percent); worship/specific worship services (13 percent); preaching/proclamation/preaching (10 percent); children/youth (9 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (7 percent); and prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups (5 percent).

When a list of the five ministries mentioned most often was compiled, however, children/youth moved to the top, identified as one of the five most important ministries by 85 percent of the respondents. The other four most-mentioned ministries were evangelism/outreach (68 percent); Sunday school/Bible study/small groups (53 percent); discipleship/spiritual growth/mentoring/counseling (37 percent); and worship/specific worship services (33 percent).

The next five ministries mentioned most often were missions (24 percent); community ministry/service/benevolence/recovery (22 percent); preaching/proclamation/teaching (20 percent); prayer/prayer ministry/prayer groups (13 percent); and music/choir (11 percent).

Which ministries a pastor considered most important varied significantly in churches of different sizes, said LifeWay Research Associate Director Scott McConnell.

"Evangelism is more likely to be considered a critical ministry among smaller churches," McConnell said. "Congregations with fewer than 100 in worship attendance are significantly more likely to list evangelism/outreach as an important ministry (72 percent) than churches with 250 or more in attendance (60 percent). On the other hand, midsize churches (worship attendance between 100 and 249) are significantly more likely to list children’s or youth ministry as critical (90 percent) than churches that are smaller (83 percent) or larger (81 percent)."

Larger churches (worship attendance of 250 or more) are more likely to include worship or worship services as a critical ministry (46 percent) compared to small (30 percent) or midsize churches (33 percent), McConnell noted. Smaller churches (worship attendance under 100) are significantly less likely to include missions or Sunday school/Bible study/small groups among their most important ministries.
Effective leadership

Pastors then were asked to indicate whether they had "an effective leader in place" for each of the critical ministries they had listed.

Taken as a group, more than three-fourths of pastors (78 percent) said they had an effective leader in place for the ministry they considered most important. For the next four ministries, however, pastors had an effective leader in place about two-thirds of the time, ranging from 69 percent for the second most important ministry to 64 percent for the fifth.

Again, the responses provided additional insight when grouped by church size, McConnell noted.

"Although smaller churches have fewer members from which to raise up new leaders, three out of four smaller churches have an effective leader in place for their most important ministry," he said. "For all five of the most important ministries, at least 60 percent of small churches have effective leaders in place.

"Larger churches have even more success getting leaders in place, with 84 percent having an effective leader in place for their most important ministry," McConnell said. "Even for their fifth most important ministry, 72 percent of larger churches have an effective leader in place."

Some ministries are more likely to have effective leaders in place, McConnell added. Among the five ministries mentioned most often, leaders are most likely to be in place for worship (82 percent) and children’s and/or youth ministry (70 percent). The least likely ministry to have an effective leader in place is evangelism/outreach (56 percent).
Relating to leaders

The pastors also were asked how they personally related to leaders of their critical ministries. The options they were given: "You meet regularly with the key leaders of several ministries as a group;" "You meet regularly with the key leader of this ministry individually;" "You meet regularly with the whole leadership team from this ministry;" and "You do not meet regularly with the leader(s) from this ministry."

Taken as a group, 40 percent of pastors indicated they met individually with the key leader of the ministry they considered most important. Twenty-two percent said they met with the entire leadership team for the most important ministry, while 21 percent said they met regularly with the key leaders of several ministries as a group. Only 17 percent said they did not meet regularly with the leader(s) of their most important ministry.

"Pastors of larger churches are more likely to meet regularly with leaders from the most important ministry in some way," McConnell said. "Only 8 percent do not meet regularly with the leader(s) of this ministry. Yet larger church pastors are also more likely to meet regularly with the key leaders of several ministries as a group (31 percent)."

The type of ministry also affects how pastors relate to ministry leaders, according to the data. Among the seven ministries most often mentioned, pastors are most likely to meet individually with worship leaders. The discipleship or spiritual growth leaders are most likely to miss out on regular meetings with the pastor (31 percent).

Implications

The survey has mixed implications for the church’s mission of making disciples, McConnell observed.

"The ministries that pastors find most critical to their church’s work reflect the functions of the church," he said. "Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those currently outside the church is and should be a top priority as pastors look to the future.

"While Southern Baptist pastors are quick to name evangelism as a priority, they indicated in their responses that they may struggle to get an effective leader in place to make it happen," he added. "Almost half the pastors who list evangelism and outreach among their five most important ministries do not have an effective leader in place for this ministry."