Church Relationships with Pastors

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These seem to fall into six categories:

Adulation:  the congregants are far too in awe of the pastor's persona and/or gifts
Subjective:  the congregants are subjects of the king
Combative (Adversarial):  Us-them/We-him(her)--never good
Collaborative:  shared leadership/nonadversarial/mutual respect
Cooperative:  pastor leads, congregation agrees to follow and cooperate
Tentative:  not just time-sensitive; uncertainty

However, this is in no way a criticism of a pastor or pastors, just a conclusion from many years of observing.  I could put names behind each of these categories, but I'll refrain.   The pastorate has to be one of the hardest jobs in the world; any kind of leadership is.  Sometimes a leader has to just do what his/her lights tell him; sometimes he/she can collaborate with those being led. 

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