The Priest and Church Leadership
The Priest and Church Leadership
We can summarize this topic in three points: preparing and forming leaders – caring for leaders – dealing with leaders.
Preparing Leaders
Or what they call “preparing the second line in the Church,” because the priest cannot do everything alone. He must need people to assist him in service, whether with him or under his supervision. An elderly priest may need a “helper suitable for him,” that is, another priest to assist him—preferably from among servants who were trained in church service, who knew the people and were known by them. Therefore, leaders must be prepared.
The priest should not look at these as competitors!
Rather, as partners in performing the pastoral work. It is well known that with the increase of workers in the field of service, the service becomes more successful. A priest who serves alone will inevitably become tired and exhausted, and lack of time and effort may lead him to neglect in service.
The faithful priest appoints assistants for himself in all branches of service.
In every activity, he has more than one servant to help him, so that if one is absent, another can take his place and the service does not stop. The Lord Christ sent the servants “two by two” (Luke 10:1).
Preparation for service includes two matters: knowledge and practical training. Alongside what the Lord Christ offered His disciples in knowledge, He also involved them in practical training, as mentioned in (Matthew 10) and (Luke 10). He used to correct their mistakes. In (Luke 10), when they returned rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them, He said to them: “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).
Likewise, in practical training He presented to them the qualities they should possess in service: “Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food” (Matthew 10:9–10). He also said to them: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house’” (Luke 10:5), along with many other counsels.
Preparing servants in all branches of service requires a special system.
For example, there is special preparation for deacons, preparation for Sunday School servants, and another for those who carry out visitation, and those who organize church membership; preparation for those supervising the library, the club, the medical service, social service and care for the poor, those who serve in a church workshop, those supervising cleanliness, and those responsible for security.
Many churches present people for service without prior preparation, and the result is that some of them fall into mistakes that become subject to reproach!
As for how each servant is prepared in his field of specialization, this needs a separate study…
Sometimes one of the means of training is that the person being prepared for service begins with an experienced servant, absorbing from him the proper method and the spirit of service.
Sometimes there are studied and written curricula for preparing servants.
In the bishoprics of services, as in the bishopric of youth, there are training courses with lectures, studies, and practical training.
Preparing servants does not mean forming a party to support the priest.
For sometimes a priest trains certain people who become his personal followers, standing by him when needed and fighting his opponents if that happens! This is not preparing servants, but preparing forces…!
The Church used to require special spiritual qualities in preparing servants.
Regarding the seven deacons in the apostolic age, the holy apostles said: “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business” (Acts 6:3). This good choice was a reason for the success of their service. And the Apostle Paul says to his disciple Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Here he stipulated that those prepared be faithful and capable of teaching, and that they receive the same apostolic teaching that Timothy received from the Apostle Paul.
If servants are merely kind but lack knowledge and wisdom, their preparation is not sound…
They may fall into mistakes that later burden the service…
Preparing leaders is not an easy matter; it may require gifts.
Either natural gifts or divine gifts. Natural gifts include a person who is by nature intelligent and perceptive, needing only knowledge and guidance, since service greatly needs wisdom and good judgment. Or a person who is by nature kind-hearted and compassionate, to serve in ministries that require tenderness and kindness.
For example, the people of Israel, who were characterized as stiff-necked, God chose for them a man who could bear them—Moses the prophet, of whom it was said: “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
And when this people fell into idol worship, He chose for them a firm and strong man, Elijah the prophet, to restrain them.
Choosing unsuitable people may later become a burden on the priest and on the service, and it may be difficult to get rid of them.
The Seriousness of Responsibility
The priesthood is not merely a job, but a responsibility.
It is the responsibility of a person who will give an account for every soul he shepherds. His duty, for which God will hold him accountable, is to lead every soul to its salvation. He is responsible not only for those who come to church, but even more for those who do not come…
With this responsibility comes accountability…
“Give an account of your stewardship” (Luke 16:2). Thus God says to everyone who undertakes service and pastoral care. If he saves a soul, he receives its reward. But if a soul perishes because of his lack of visitation, lack of care, lack of teaching, or lack of concern… what does the Lord say? He places him before this serious judgment: “That wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 33:8).
O priest: how much blood will God require from you? You will not be able to present an excuse on that day…
The Possibility of Cooperation
The priest is not merely an individual working in the Church. Rather, he works with groups of deacons and servants. He also has a church council of lay archons. There are also committees and activities in social service, the club, the workshop, the library… There are other employees such as the doorkeeper, the sexton, and perhaps a clerk as well… There may also be one or more fellow priests with him, older or newer in ordination.
What, then, is the priest’s stance toward all these? Can he cooperate with them, or does he clash with them? And how is that clash—violent or calm? And what is its effect on the service, and on people’s perception of the priesthood, its spirituality, and its idealism?
The ideal priest can cooperate with everyone, with love and gentleness. Even if he finds opposing opinions, he can benefit from them, persuade others, or relinquish his own opinion, without clinging violently in a way that leads to friction, and without canceling the personality of others.
The major problem that often faces many priests is individualism in work—they want to be everything.
Those who work with him find themselves in an awkward position: either to submit, convinced or unconvinced… or to withdraw from service after a battle or without a battle… or the matter becomes prolonged and complicated, with each side appealing to the people and trying to win them over…!
No matter how many talents a priest has, he cannot succeed without cooperation…
A Comforter of the Weary
One of the most important qualities of a priest is that he be a comforter of the weary.
This is one of the qualities of the Lord Christ, who said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He pronounced woe upon the scribes and Pharisees because they “bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (Matthew 23:4).
Thus priests should be a comfort to all. Every weary, distressed, and suffering soul that comes to one of them—he does all he can to comfort it, and it leaves him relieved of its burdens.
Therefore, the priest must be merciful, gentle with souls, patient with them, loving toward all, seeking their rest.
He bears their worries for them and relieves them of them.
He is like the Good Samaritan who had compassion on a wounded man he found on the road and did all he could for his healing and comfort, even though he did not know him before (Luke 10:30–35), and not like the priest who saw him and passed by.
The ideal priest does not wait for people to complain to him of their troubles. Rather, of his own initiative, if he learns of those troubles from any source, he seeks out those souls and comforts them without being asked… He solves everyone’s problems with love, sincerity, and self-giving… and everyone feels that every problem has a solution…
He does this also in confessions, comforting souls that reveal to him their falls and spiritual illnesses…
He never drives anyone to despair. He is not harsh in rebuke. He does not impose on anyone a penalty he cannot bear. He does not wound anyone’s feelings or offend modesty. He does not give disciplines beyond the level of the penitent, but is patient and gentle. He supports the weak and encourages the fainthearted (1 Thessalonians 5:14), strengthens the weak hands, and steadies the feeble knees (Isaiah 35:3).
He shares with all in their sorrows and bears their pains and sufferings (Isaiah 53:4).
Everyone feels that he is a father, with all that the word “father” implies—broad-minded, long-suffering, deeply sensitive, characterized by tenderness and by a good, encouraging word; he builds and does not destroy.
Such a priest is loved by all.
They honor him with true merit, not merely because of his priesthood… They turn to him with full confidence and speak openly to him about what is in their hearts without fear, and they accept his counsel in faith, believing that it is all for their good.
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