Pastors should preach and counsel, not manage

From Preaching Now:

A leading management consultant advises clergy to concentrate on their commission to preach and counsel, according to a news item in the Religion Today daily news summary for Nov. 30. Peter F. Barrenstein, who works in Germany for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, believes that local churches should hire an executive to take care of managerial and administrative tasks, leaving pastors free for theological reflection and evangelism. He also argues that pastors should not focus their efforts on serving a small “core congregation” of faithful worshippers, but “they should develop a counter strategy to a shrinking church.” At Barrenstein’s initiative, McKinsey conducted an extensive survey of Protestant churches in Munich about ten years ago. However, the management consultant insists, “The church is not a commercial venture.” The aim of bringing people to faith in Christ could never be achieved by management techniques. “That is the job of the Holy Spirit.”