Source: www.freeimages.com
One of the challenges that faces church leaders, particularly when attempting to focus on world mission, is the extent to which their time and attention is demanded by their loudly bleating sheep. The pastoral needs of church members are very high on a minister’s list of priorities, and many of their sheep will complain loudly if the pastor isn’t seen to be meeting them.
And very often it has to be the church leader personally, even though the church may have a fully-equipped pastoral team. We may talk about the value of team ministry, but so often people want the top person to be personally involved in meeting their needs and are upset if she isn’t. I often think of a story I heard about a woman who had been in hospital, and subsequently complained to the pastor that “Nobody had visited her”, when in fact she’d had several visits from church members, some of them multiple times. What she meant was that the minister hadn’t visited her!*
This dynamic forces the church leader into meeting perceived needs, in addition to all the genuine crises going on in the church. The minister’s approval, and sometimes his actual employment, can be dependent on how well he is seen to be meeting these needs, so it is understandable if they take up a lot of the minister’s time and attention. But what about the sheep in other folds, on other hills, whose bleating isn’t so easy to hear because they’re further away.
Overseas mission workers have pastoral needs too. Although they may be members of an agency, that doesn’t mean those pastoral needs are met. And some people don’t serve through an agency anyway. But they are still part of their home church, with a reasonable expectation that the church (whether it’s the pastor or a team) will meet their pastoral needs.
These needs are often not addressed by agencies, who rightly do not see pastoral care as part of their responsibility (unlike member care) or by the local church which the mission partner serves through, which may not have the capacity to understand and minister to the issues going on in the mission worker’s life, as these issues may be very different from those of the indigenous church. This lack of pastoral support can add to stress and contribute to burnout and attrition
Syzygy has a guide for churches which can help them understand the needs of their overseas sheep. We also offer advice to churches who would like to support their mission partners more effectively, and bespoke training for those churches who would like to develop the skills of their pastoral team to care effectively for mission partners. Contact us on info@syzygy.org.uk for more information.
The fact that the sheep aren’t in your fold doesn’t mean you’re not their shepherd!
* Story found in Love, Acceptance & Forgiveness by Jerry Cook with Stanley C Baldwin (Regal Books 1979)
