So Why Is Imago Embracing The Co-Pastor Model?
For much of church history, the church functioned within a patriarchal model — one male at the top who was shaping and discerning the doctrines and direction of the Church. However, when Jesus first established the church, he never commissioned one individual person with supreme authority. Instead, Jesus chose a team of twelve to shape the Church. These twelve were uniquely and distinctively gifted to complement one another. And while this team did not always get along — often having differences over issues like food laws, circumcision, Gentile inclusion, you name it —these differences and shared authority only made the church stronger. The differences allowed diversity of perspectives as the Church changed and grew.
In the same way, we at Imago are committed to live into this new trinitarian model of co-pastors. We believe that like the Trinity, this is in an equitable form of leadership to have three pastors with different responsibilities and unique gifts and yet shared authority as the Pastors of Imago. In doing so, this will enable us to better reflect the diversity and relational values of our community. There are many growing churches and inclusive organizations around the country that are adopting this new team model.
We as a pastoral team are excited to work together and collaborate in this new beginning of Imago’s life. In the coming months, we will offer more clarity around how the co-pastor model will function and what each of our individual and shared responsibilities will be.
One note: We want to acknowledge that the last year may have felt strenuous or aimless at times, and there are those in our church family that may still be grieving losses from seasons past. There are others among us who are hopeful and enthusiastic about all that this new year could hold. And that’s the beauty of Imago. We are all at different points, yet share a common purpose. As we begin 2019, our team is looking forward with great anticipation to take the next steps, as we discern together the future of Imago.
We hope that you’ll consider being part of events in the coming months and perhaps this next season is a time to find the unique places you can connect to the community and contribute to our ministries.
In It Together, Your Pastoral Team,
