Survey: Megachurch leaders see themselves as teachers

A survey conducted of megachurch pastors by the Leadership Network shows that the majority view themselves as teachers rather than traditional pastors. The study, entitled “Teacher First: Leadership Network’s 2009 Large Church Senior Pastor Survey,” canvassed 232 megachurch senior pastors. Megachurches now serve about 10 percent of Protestant worshipers, the survey said. The cornerstone finding is that 81 percent of respondents viewed themselves as “preacher/teachers.” Fifty-one percent defined themselves as directional leaders, 33 percent as visionary and only 16 percent as a pastor. “The results of the survey were surprising in a number of areas,” says Warren Bird, Leadership Network’s research director and designer of the survey. “This project represents the most comprehensive cross-denominational survey that has ever been conducted of large-church senior pastors. It revealed surprising insights on a number of different points, from very high satisfaction levels with their church boards to somewhat low personal participation in non-church activities.” The average work week is 53 hours for the pastors, 19 of which are spent in preaching, teaching or worship and nine of which are in meetings or filling administrative duties. Among items that the pastors said “keep them lying awake in bed at night,” top answers included: • “Transitioning the worship style.” • “People leaving.” • “Our region is in crisis. Job loss [means] a change of life as we know it. [I’m] wondering what the future will look like.” • “Attacks from outside critics.” • “Communicating leadership decisions.” Leisure time was also closely tied to their profession, with most pastors saying they were primarily involved in a parachurch group, sports or denominational activity. Link: Complete Leadership Network survey: http://www.leadnet.org/downloads/Teacher%20First%20-%20Senior%20Pastor%20Survey.pdf