The Pastor's Primary Responsibilities in a Church Plant

The Pastor’s Primary Responsibilities in a Church Plant
By Geoffrey R. Kirkland

These are not exhaustive nor are they unchanging. These five principles serve to keep the pastor’s focus on keeping the main thing the main thing and not becoming sidetracked with the many—innumerable—responsibilities that may arise. At the outset of a church plant with one man on staff and a small church, the focus must be very narrow and clear.

1. Preach the Word of God.

The pastor must study the Word of God so that he is adequately prepared to preach the Word of God in an expository way weekly.

2. Shepherd the People of God.

The pastor must tend his sheep. He must know them, learn them, love them, care for them, pray for them, counsel them, rebuke them, correct them, and train them. The best way to be an effective shepherd is to know the sheep.

3. Pray for the Unction of God.

The pastor must learn to be alone with God. He must love isolated times of communion with God. The pastor must pray for and depend on the unction—the power—of God the Holy Spirit in every aspect of the ministry. Prayer is not secondary or tertiary; it must be primary.

4. Train Men in the Word of God.

The pastor must make it his goal to train up “faithful men who will be able to train others” for the furthering of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The pastor can meet weekly with the men of the Church to preach, teach, exhort, and pour into the men so that the church will be full of masculine men who are biblically-grounded and theocentrically focused.

5. Focus on the Glory of God.

The pastor must anchor his mind and heart on the glory of God in all things. That God is glorified in everything that happens is clear from Scripture. Therefore, the pastor should bear in mind that when the good and the hard times come in church planting, the magnificent glory of God must fill the pastor’s heart and soul.