This is the first of five blog posts on Francis Asbury as a model for second pastors inspired by John Wigger’s biography, “American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists.” Please also see the second, third, fourth, and fifth.
If there is a guidebook for being a congregation’s second pastor, I haven’t found it. There are a lot of great books and some good articles on “Faith and Leadership” about becoming a new pastor or beginning a new pastorate. But what I mean by “second pastor” is one who follows the founding pastor of a church. Some major missteps lately in well known big churches make this second pastor more than a little bit anxious of the potential pitfalls. Will the church fall apart under my leadership? How do I build upon the success of the past? How can I fill the shoes of a beloved founding pastor? How can I lead in a context that has only had the experience of one leader?
I was excited to see a workshop on the topic at a large evangelism conference recently. But about two weeks before the conference was to take place, I got an email saying that my workshop was being canceled because of lack of participants.
I’ve wondered if there wasn’t some way to bring together second pastors from around my denomination, the country, or the world. Then I got invited to a young clergy conference. This was my opportunity to see how other young clergy were dealing with following a founding pastor. But alas, while the conference was excellent, I was the only second pastor. All the rest of my peers were either associate pastors or lead pastors in well established churches.
Then one day it hit me. Look to the past. Francis Asbury! Asbury didn’t begin the Methodist renewal movement in England, and he didn’t even begin the movement in the American colonies. In both instances he inherited a theological and governance culture from both Wesley and indigenous American Methodists. I wondered if Francis Asbury’s leadership might provide some clues or insights into my own context.
I shot an email to my two Methodist professors in seminary, Randy Maddox and Richard Heitzenrater, asking for a recommendation for good biographies on Francis Asbury. Both of them had one suggestion: John Wigger’s "American Saint, Francis Asbury and the Methodists." I picked up a copy and dove in, and what I found was quite surprising and helpful for second pastors. I found four key lessons from Asbury that I think will help anyone who is a new pastor, beginning a new pastorate, and especially second pastors. I intend to share those four lessons in four upcoming blog entries.
Until then, I wonder if others have suggestions of leaders from the past who would provide helpful insight for second pastors.
Tom Arthur is pastor of Sycamore Creek United Methodist Church in Lansing, Michigan.
