# Co-pastor vs. senior pastor?



## MCM180 (Jun 4, 2014)

Hi all! Long-time listener, first-time caller. Tons of great insight on the forum - what a blessing to have it. Thanks to all who read and respond and make it such a help.

I'm wondering if y'all have any good insight into the pros and cons of having *two co-pastors (with relatively equal authority) vs. a senior pastor and a "junior pastor"* (assistant, associate, or some other title). I can see strengths and weaknesses of each approach, but I'd like to get the Puritanboard's input.

(I've tried to search, but most of the "co-pastor" results I get are husband-and-wife teams, which isn't at all the model I'm thinking of!)

Thanks in advance for any help, insight, experiences (good or bad), resources, etc.


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## Gforce9 (Jun 5, 2014)

Christian,
I think the Presbyterian form of government is best; the session (the elders and pastor who is representing the broader church to the local congregation) jointly rule. I know there are congregations large enough to have shared responsibility, but leaving the sole rule in the hands of a one or two (presuming a larger congregation where an associate pastor may be needed) is trouble waiting to happen....
I hope this is the direction you were hoping to travel.....


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## MCM180 (Jun 5, 2014)

Greg,
Thanks for the reply - but I was unclear, for which I apologize. So, let me try again.

I'm assuming a Presbyterian form of government, at a church that's too big for one pastor. There will be more than one pastor (ruling along with the elders). Let's assume the pastors focus their efforts differently, wherein Pastor A does more Sunday morning preaching and administration than Pastor B, and Pastor B does some Sunday evening preaching, and probably focuses more on family discipleship.

Given that, and that the denomination's Form of Government explicitly allows for co-pastors, what are the practical strengths and weaknesses of having one of those pastors be in clear authority over the other, vs. having them both be co-pastors?

My initial thoughts are: 
*strengths of co-pastors*: co-pastors would rotate moderating session meetings, which is probably helpful; a "plurality of pastors" would be consistent with the plurality of elders and divest power somewhat; a loss of either pastor wouldn't leave the congregation without a pastor.
*weaknesses of co-pastors*: lack of clarity for the congregation as to who has what role; possibility of conflict of personality or style; elders or congregants might get into "I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas" mode; any theological differences might create division or confusion.

Any other issues I've missed?

Thanks again, and please forgive my lack of clarity in my initial post - I was going for brevity and missed important content.


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