New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 711

Can Co-Pastoring Work?

Ed Stetzer & Colby Garman

Episode 711

Is a multi-leader organization really a “two-headed snake”? Or is co-pastoring a restoration of a New Testament trend? Host Ed Stetzer talks with Jon Mollohan and Colby Garman about whether and how co-pastoring can work.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • What “plurality health” means in church leadership
  • How scriptural injunctions and culture interact in leadership structures
  • Advantages and challenges of co-pastoring
  • How plurality done well feeds the quality of discipleship
  • The roles of plurality in church planting

Helpful Resources:

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

I have had the privilege of planting, depending how you count, six churches and the one that probably was the most difficult was the time we tried to plant with three co-pastors. @EdStetzer

Co-pastors sounds like the most difficult thing in the history of mankind to do well. Plurality health, however, is just making sure the leadership of a church is guiding one another to lead the church in a healthy way. — Jon Mollohan

It’s good for us to acknowledge that we are stepping into the wise application of some ideas that don’t get entirely fleshed out for us in the New Testament. But if we value plurality, it’s worth valuing at the very highest level. @ColbyGarman

Discipleship should be the greatest expression from the plurality or the leadership of the church. — Jon Mollohan

Church planters have to go into the room being willing to submit to others. That’s a key thing of plurality. @EdStetzer

When we broaden out the the voices that shape and define the church, we protect them against our own weaknesses and having a church built around our own strengths. We prepare the church for the day when we’re not going to be part of it. @ColbyGarman

It is so much fun to be a pastor when you know the elders have your back. You know they care for you. My elders are my friends. I’m actually doing ministry with these guys. — Jon Mollohan

Published on October 20, 2022

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New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Authors

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is a professor and dean at Wheaton College where he also serves as Executive Director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.  He is the incoming Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and he has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, is the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. His national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates. He serves at his local church, Mariners Church, as a Scholar in Residence and Teaching Pastor.

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Colby Garman

Colby Garman oversees the teaching ministries of Pillar Church of Dumfries and has co-founded several church planting organizations, including the Praetorian Project and the Iceland Project. Before coming to Pillar, Colby served as an associate pastor at Stafford (Va.) Baptist Church (the church that planted Pillar Church). In 2008, the Garmans served for two years in Iceland with the International Mission Board. Colby is a graduate of Liberty University, where he earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and Biola University, where he earned an M.A. in Christian Apologetics.

More Resources from Colby
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