Tozer and the Multisite Church

I recently finished a biography of A.W. Tozer, and some of its ideas got me thinking about the various roles in multisite churches.

When A.W. Tozer preached in your church, the crowds were certain to grow. Many people today know this Christian & Missionary Alliance pastor primarily for his popular books like The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. They’ve reached millions and continue to sell, long after Tozer’s 1963 death.

Tozer’s official title for many years was that of “pastor,” but in actuality he focused his pastoral work very narrowly on preaching and teaching. He didn’t enjoy – and wasn’t particularly good – at pastoral acts like visiting the sick or training his elders. In fact, when he candidated at one church he said, “I’ll go anywhere to preach, but it needs to be clear that I am not interested in being pastor.” Indeed the church employed him at that very level: his sole responsibility was to speak at the Sunday morning and evening services. The church hired a second person to do everything else. That young man “will handle everything. You won’t have to attend board meetings, visit the sick, lay any cornerstones, attend any picnics, cut any ribbons or anything else. Just preach twice a Sunday, that’s it,” the church’s leaders had promised.

How is that dual-person role any different from today’s multisite approach of one person as teaching pastor and the other as campus pastor? I think Tozer (and many others like him) set quite a precedent that led in some ways to the splitting of roles in many multisite churches today.

What do you think?

 

posted by Warren Bird, Ph.D., co-author with Geoff Surratt and Greg Ligon of Multi-Site Church Revolution and Multi-Site Church Roadtrip. Warren also blogs on Leadership Network’s Learnings and Books.

Comments

[Eugenia C. Freiburger]

Kudos to Tozer in living into his passion and call in such a way. He was ahead of his time! Generally speaking, I believe this is always the optimal situation; however, churches do not always give pastors permission to serve in such a focused and narrow way.

It seems almost a requirement, however, in multi-site churches today. My doctoral project is on the topic of multi-sites, as a result I have been on my own "road trip" this summer. So far, I have experienced 12 worship celebrations in 6 multi-site. The specialization or specificity of roles is very evident. I also think it is almost more important in multi-site churches. The model requires the teaching pastor to be a great teacher/communicator and requires the campus pastor to excel in shepherding the campus community.

[dan laurenzo]

love Tozer. love differentiating our roles in keeping with our gifts and passion! However, the pastor who just teaches, just "delivers the goods" runs the risk of missing the chance for a more incarnational kind of teaching and pastoring -- whereby salient and fruitful truth is delivered from a man or woman who lives in more consistent loving contact with lead teams, groups & families in the church family. I am wary of "trumpeting" community as a Bible teacher yet insulating my life from it in order to prepare great sermons. How about you?
Dan - Everett WA