A Pilgrimage Of Faith, J.B. Toews, 1993

adequate leadership 232 HOW SHALL WE THEN BE LED? in our churches to meet our own needs Oeadership in our present churches, new churches, mission fields and edu- cational institutions). This is the burden of our emphasis at this convention. We propose several suggestions: (a) We must provide an atmosphere in our congregations where there is a sense of expectation, encouragement and support for leadership selection and training, (b) We must give attention to how leaders are called, se- lected, trained and supported in the congregation. (c) We must develop in our congregations a model for church leadership selection and development. (d) We must find methods of testing, evaluating and giv- ing feedback for growth purposes to emerging leaders in the congregations. (e) We must devise ways of sharing these leadership needs with the churches of our district. Discussion at a convention is not sufficient. (0 We must recognize this burden for leadership as a long-range and ongoing process.24 It is ironic that amid the strong emphasis on evangelism and church growth throughout the Mennonite Brethren Con- ference, there is also an apparent sterility that prevents men and women from being called forward to the leadership min- istries that are basic to healthy growth and maturing of the be- lievers community. THE PASTOR'S ASSIGNMENT How do local churches visualize the role of the pastor? A survey of the constitutions of forty-five representative Menno- nite Brethren congregations showed the following "job de- scription" as typical: The pastor shall be the spiritual leader of the church. He shall preach the gospel, administer the ordinances, watch 233 A PILGRIMAGE OF FAITH over membership of the church family, promote the spiri- tual interest of the church and develop the strength of the church for the best possible service to the glory of God and the conference. The pastor shall be the administra- tive officer of the church and ex-officio member of all the church committees. Most constitutions included a paragraph spelling out pro- cedures for termination, which indicates that the ministry is considered a term position. The content of these documents presupposes that the leadership will come from outside the local body, like a professional specialist. This perception is corroborated by a study of pastoral "help wanted" advertisements in conference periodicals. In a recent five-year period, more than 190 public appeals ap- peared in the Mennonite Brethren Herald for pastoral appli- cants. Like other professional advertisements, these requested documentati