FTE "On Call" Blog

Matthew Wesley Williams

Associate Director for Fellowships

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April 15, 2009

10 Attributes of An Excellent Minister

What distinguishes a minister who carries out her/ his call with excellence?  FTE conducted four consultations around this question with ministers across the country.   The results were published in Faithful to the Call: Reflections on Excellence in Ministry

Here's a synopsis of what they said:

1.  Excellent ministers believe what they are proclaiming.

"They embrace their faith as a living, breathing thing, and they share that faith with others by pointing to the scriptures and the life of the worshipping community."

2.  Excellent ministers love their communities.

"Whether introverted or extroverted, gregarious or reserved, a good minister thoroughly grounds himself or herself in the life of the congregation."

3.  Excellent ministers display agility, flexibility and grace under pressure.

"Excellent ministers are agile ministers. They move fluidly across a range of responsibilities, from the sublime to the everyday and the tedious."

4. Excellent ministers know how to ask the right questions.

"To be effective in their call, pastors must challenge the mind of the congregation as well as the heart. Doing so includes knowing how to ask good questions."

5. Excellent ministers are courageous.

"For some ministers, courage means standing up against racial, class and gender injustice. For others, it means preaching a particular sermon, supporting a person with cancer, calling a board to account for a problematic decision, or advocating for a young person in need. Whatever form it takes, courage is essential to excellent ministry."

6. Excellent ministers lead with strength and humility.

"Excellent ministers, in short, are compelling people with a remarkable capacity to forget themselves and to lift up the work of Christ instead."

7. Excellent ministers know their limits.

"They should know how to take care of themselves and how to set appropriate boundaries."

8. Excellent ministers have thriving imaginations.

"They see the world not only as it appears on the nightly news or even in the day-to-day lives of parishioners, but also as the world is yet to be. Imaginative ministers are eschatological ministers."

9. Excellent ministers embrace lifelong learning.

"They understand that while good ministry thrives on the spontaneous movement of God’s Spirit, it also requires ongoing education and study."

10. Excellent ministers mentor.

"They identify and encourage men and women who display gifts for pastoral leadership. They mentor these individuals as an act of gratitude for what they themselves have been given. "