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A Portrait of a Successful Pastor: Reanimating the Pastor As Shepherd in a Success Oriented Culture Steve Bontrager [email protected]

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A Portrait of a Successful Pastor: Reanimating the Pastor As Shepherd in a Success Oriented Culture Steve Bontrager Sbontrager15@Georgefox.Edu Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 1-1-2018 A Portrait of a Successful Pastor: Reanimating the Pastor as Shepherd in a Success Oriented Culture Steve Bontrager [email protected] This research is a product of the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Bontrager, Steve, "A Portrait of a Successful Pastor: Reanimating the Pastor as Shepherd in a Success Oriented Culture" (2018). Doctor of Ministry. 279. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin/279 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY A PORTRAIT OF A SUCCESSFUL PASTOR: REANIMATING THE PASTOR AS SHEPHERD IN A SUCCESS ORIENTED CULTURE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY STEVE BONTRAGER PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2018 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Steve Bontrager has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on February 13, 2018 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation. Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: Deborah Loyd, DMin Secondary Advisor: Aaron Friesen, PhD Lead Mentor: MaryKate Morse, PhD Copyright © 2018 by Steve Bontrager All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted. ii I dedicate this to my wife, Leona Bontrager. You and I and everyone else in our lives know that I would not have reached this milestone without your support. In fact, I only dared to begin this venture because of your encouragement to do so. You thought of me in a doctoral program long before I did, and your unwavering confidence in me has been my greatest inspiration. No one knows more than me what it means to have someone completely believe in them. Thank you with all my heart. I dedicate this to the thousands of pastors in unsung places giving your lives to follow the Great Shepherd and to care for His sheep. Few will ever know your name, but the Lord sees every tear, hears every prayer, and says of you that He is well pleased. iii Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... vii Abstract ........................................................................................................ viii Introduction The Problem ........................................................................ 1 Our Story ......................................................................... 1 The Pastoral Conundrum ................................................ 3 What Model? ................................................................... 4 The Problem Statement ................................................... 7 Research Question ........................................................... 7 Thesis .............................................................................. 8 Approach ......................................................................... 8 Chapter 1 Pastoral Ministry in the Primitive Church ....................... 9 Introduction ...................................................................... 9 The Biblical Record ......................................................... 9 Testimony of Other Documents ....................................... 18 The Dynamics and Appeal of the Primitive Church ............................................................................. 22 Shift to Greater Centralization ........................................ 25 Some Conclusions about Primitive Church Pastors ................................................................ 27 Chapter 2 Influence of the Catholic Church on Pastoral Ministry ........................................................... 34 Introduction ..................................................................... 34 The Rise of the Catholic Church ..................................... 35 Ante-Nicene Church ....................................................... 37 Christian Ministry Becomes a Priesthood ....................... 40 The Ministry in the Later Patristic Period ....................... 50 Influence of Gregory the Great ....................................... 51 iv Influence of the Frankish Structuring of the Church, AD 600-1000 ............................................... 59 Influence of the Scholastic Period, AD 1000-1400 ........ 62 Cathedrals ....................................................................... 63 The Influence of Monasticism on Modern Pastoral Ministry ............................................................. 65 Concluding Thoughts about Early Catholicism on the Modern Pastor ...................................................... 66 Chapter 3 Influence of The Reformation on Pastoral Ministry ........................................................... 67 Introduction ..................................................................... 67 The History of Late Medieval Theology and Piety ........ 67 Reformation Theology and Pastoral Practice ................. 72 Reformation Pastoral Practice ......................................... 77 Preaching in the Reformation ......................................... 84 The Reformation and Education ..................................... 92 Reformation Theology and Modern Pastors ................... 94 Concluding Thoughts about the Effects of the Reformation on Modern Pastors ................................ 99 Chapter 4 The Church in America and Its Influence on Pastoral Ministry ................................................................. 101 Introduction ..................................................................... 101 The Church in Early America ......................................... 101 The Rise of the Social Gospel ......................................... 113 The Effect of the Church Growth Movement ................. 116 Chapter 5 Biblical Foundations for Pastoral Ministry ...................... 127 The Shepherd Model ....................................................... 127 Bishops, Elders, and House Church Leaders .................. 131 Part of the Team .............................................................. 136 Some Concluding Thoughts about the Biblical Foundations for Pastoral Ministry ..................... 137 v Chapter 6 Literature Review: What Others Are Saying .................... 140 Pastor as Attractor ........................................................... 140 Pastor as Theologian ....................................................... 144 Pastor as Shepherd (or Spiritual Director) ...................... 150 Pastor in an Emerging Paradigm ..................................... 154 Conclusion ....................................................................... 165 Chapter 7 Analysis and Conclusions ................................................... 167 The Shepherd Motif ........................................................ 167 Some Other Images that Define a Successful Pastor ...... 174 What I Have Learned ...................................................... 176 A Few Surprises .............................................................. 177 Further Study .................................................................. 178 Bibliography ................................................................................................ 180 vi Acknowledgements Attempting to acknowledge everyone who has been a part of this journey is prone to failure. It would be impossible to thank every person who has made some contribution, even if “just” an affirming word along the way. If I missed you, please accept my apologies. I would like to acknowledge: • Trenton Corvino for working so hard to get my credits lined up and accepted by George Fox. • North Creek Foursquare Church for allowing me the freedom to pursue the dream. • Heather Rainey who processed logistics to make everything possible. • Dr. Loren Kerns and Dr. Cliff Berger who were a constant encouragement and inspiration and providers of critical “real-time” help. • Dr. Morse for her inspirational teaching and vision for this program. • The members of my cohort for their friendship and camaraderie. • My girls for allowing Dad to take such a crazy journey so late in life. • Tessa for being patient with a Papa who has been absent far too long. • Jana Bontrager, Marti Eubanks, Lynda Zachary, and Tracey Lane for editing. • Dr. Deborah Loyd, my advisor, for walking with me on every step of this journey. • My wife, Leona, for undying love and support vii Abstract The purpose of this study is to define a set of metrics by which pastors can measure their “success” as pastors. It is important to note that this is not an effort to define a successful church, which would be a different study altogether. Studies show that a great majority of pastors are struggling in life and ministry and it seems reasonable to ask if this could be a result of ambiguity about the role pastors are supposed to fill and what constitutes successfully doing so. It is my contention that many pastors function without a clear
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