Goodbye Pastor Frank

 We have a big change at the church, El Rio, where we worship and help to lead. Pastor Frank has decided to leave the congregation as lead pastor. A major factor in his decision to leave the church has to do with changes in local laws. There have been stricter reporting requirements for non-profit organizations and churches are being included in certain aspects. These new regulations are burdensome. They have affect the way the church will report the offering and the sources of these funds. It also affects income and salaries of the locals who fulfill leadership roles. 

These changes were to drastic for pastor Frank's family and he decided to step down as pastor. He finished his preaching in May and completed a "Profession of Faith" class with 8 participants. While our church is young, we were able to establish some norms and build an identity as a church while he was leading. Pastor Frank helped us to establish our mission and vision. He also helped to articulate the core beliefs of the church. We established a finance protocol concerning offering and budgeting of the churches ministries. Over the past year there were many meetings between myself and pastor Frank. I thank the Holy Spirit for giving us a spirit of collaboration! 

In the first weeks of May, a search for a new pastor was discussed, and even a few pastors came in to talk with us. Since the initial shock of pastor Frank's decision has past, the leadership teams of the church has decided to continue the ministry without a lead pastor for a while. This decision allows the rest of the team to step up and fulfill roles naturally. In this country, churches are led and built up by pastors. The pastor is seen as the principle authority over the church and it is common for them to lead churches as the sole decision maker. The are some good and bad things to this culture of churches here in Nicaragua. Some positives of pastor only churches:

• Principle motivator of the congregation
• Commands and directs the congregation
• Establishes the goals and ministries of the church

Some negatives of pastor only led churches:

• heavy burden on the pastor
• no accountability
• lack of diversity in the ministry of the church

This is a very simple list, but I hope it allows you to understand how a majority of churches here function. At our church, El Rio, the leadership team tried to avoid the traditional Nicaraguan church model of the 'pastor is the authority'. We have a culture of an elder run church, even if there have been no officially appointed elders because of the age of the church. This is a complex thing to do, given the tradition of churches here. 

We believe the elder run church will work here, there are challenges, but for long term success of the church it will be necessary. There have been pastoral leaders who have come and gone in the churches 3 year lifespan. Now the church has some written beliefs and identity, and with the Holy Spirit's help this church will continue to grow, make disciples and bless the city of Jinotega with its presence! 

The pastoral change at El Rio is going to affect my approach to implementing a marketplace ministry here. We will need a more personal and involved teaching and leading of Discipling Marketplace Leaders. Our flowchart is changing! Good thing it is flexible and so am I! Instead of pastor Frank leading the business month from the pulpit, it will be me and our volunteer Darwin. We haven't set a date yet, but we can start in the coming months as the church finds its new rhythm. 

Sunday Worship one cold and wet day