I played and refereed soccer as a kid, but I prefer to watch Rugby League. So apart from the World Cup, I don’t watch much soccer these days.
That means I was unaware of the full extent of Alex Ferguson’s achievements as Manager of Manchester United, until I noticed that their 0-0 draw with Arsenal last week to win the English Premier League had seen their club draw equal with Liverpool as record holders for the greatest number of titles.
Under Ferguson’s stewardship, Man U have won eleven English Championships. Eleven! In addition, there were two European Champions Leagues, and five FA Cups among 25 trophies in all. Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history.
But what’s any of that got to do with ministry?
Well, get this: Ferguson was manager at the Manchester United for seven seasons before winning the championship. Seven long years. It’s unimaginable today that sporting clubs would stick that long with an ‘unsuccessful’ manager. These days, if you don’t produce results, you’d get the sack after a couple of seasons.
But clearly it took the Scotsman a while to develop the winning culture. I guess it just seems like a parable for us in ministry.
Growth, fruitfulness, success in ministry—I mean people coming to Christ and growing in Christ—often seems to come after a long lead time, and with plenty of patience and hard work. It can’t be rushed. It needs endurance.
I know the Spirit’s wind blows where he will and only God gives the growth. But I reckon that, under God, there were more people who came to Christ in my sixth year in my last parish, than during the previous five combined. It just takes time for trust to develop and momentum. If only I could have stayed longer.
And it’s the same when I think of some of the most influential ministries in the neck of the woods I know. Occasionally things develop in a rush. But generally the pastors were there for the long haul. One decade, one and a half, two decades. And, from a distance, that also seems to be the pattern with people like John Piper and Mark Dever.
My predecessor in my last parish was there 25 years or so. But the blokes who were such wonderful pillars of the church in my time had been taken under his wing and discipled by him when they were in high school. What a blessing the fruit of that long-term ministry was to me.
It’s not that every long-serving minister automatically sees observable ‘success’ any more than all long-serving coaches do. Even dead wood can stay standing for a long time. But it also takes a long time for the Huon Pine with its prized timber to grow.
When I googled “average length pastorate”, the first four results reported that the average length for a pastorate was
- 5 years
- 7.2 years (smaller churches)—8.7 years (larger churches)
- under 60 months
- 3-7 years.
Of course, there are all sorts of reasons for this—many of them good. But I can’t help wonder if we tend to move on too quickly.
I know very little about Alex Ferguson and his methods (except for the bare facts of his exceptional coaching track record and that he’s apparently put his retirement plans on pause!) And I know that even talking about ministry success seems like an earthly way of putting it. But seeing how long it took for Ferguson’s success to come (an eternity in today’s instant results world) reminds me of the need for stickability, endurance and perseverance in ministry where I am now. And it should caution us all—pastors and parishioners alike—against expecting ‘results’ in a hurry.
Thanks for the encouragement Sandy.
There was an article in the March/April 9Marks Journal by Bob Johnson, called “A Pastors Priorities For Day One” where he mentions the importance of staying and waiting for fruit/growth/etc.
His last point, is – “Plant a tree” – the lesson being to learn to patiently wait and pace yourself.
He closed with a quote from James Boice about how we often over estimate what we can do in a year and under estimate what can be accomplished in 10. Set priorities that will bear fruit in 10 years time – or words to that effect.
As a young pastor (38 y.o.), I confess “guilty” to that charge.
As a teenager, the man who discipled me often used the comparison of an Oak tree and a Paw-paw (papaya to non-Qld’ers). We all want the strength and stability of the Oak in our ministry, but most of us want it in the time it takes to grow paw-paw. God’s ways are not ours!
BTW that 9Marks Journal features an article by Phil Jensen, but the whole Journal is well worth subscribing to / downloading etc.
Al.
Chelsea’s constant turnover of managers and coaches has cost them terribly.
Sandy – should we therefore encourage a default position for guys to go early and stay long?
Al, thanks for the encouragement. And yep, I remember reading that edition of the 9Marks journal and thought it was good. (Click here for a direct link to the PDF.)
I really like the ‘plant a tree’ image and the Boice quote you remind us of.
Michael, thanks for providing the example which proves the difficulty of the opposite (high or regular turnover).
<thickness> I understand and agree with “stay long” but just did not quite get what you meant by “go early” in your proposed default advice.
Go early to college? Go early into pastoral ministry? Go early if you do a big stuff up (but otherwise stay long)? Sorry… Try again can you. </thickness>
sorry -I wasn’t clear – go early to a parish and stay there a long time.
The long term fruit argument means we should encourage guys (in Sydney Anglican context) to get to a parish younger as a rector – rather than have a ‘serial assistant minister’ going through numerous parishes.
Michael, I think there’s a very good argument for long term assistant ministers staying in the same place – not everyone is suited as a senior minister. But agree that there’s generally good reason not to travel through multiple short term assistant ministries (but not always in the Assistant’s control).
Would not want to get too dogmatic about it, but certainly default should staying longer.
Man Utd. have just lost the Champions League final to Barcelona – where the manager is in his first year!
So the moral of the story is … stick to the NRL Sandy
On a more serious note – I’d agree with the general point that ministry is long-term. We should be encouraging guys to set down roots and grow trees. However, I’d be very wary of making the direct link of ‘godly ministry = a long stay’.
There are a lot of assumptions in ministry about the Pastor being the sole reason for growth, or lack of it. When a guy stays a long time it is much harder work to stop the church being about him instead of about Jesus. I’m not saying this is a reason to leave early, just a potential danger to avoid. I keep reminding myself that the acid test of my ministry is what is left behind <i>after</i> I leave … even if they have to carry me out in a wooden box.