I’ve done a lot of consulting, coaching, and writing about trying to help churches develop leadership farm systems (developing leaders from the harvest). One observation I’ve made is the churches that are able to raise leaders from the harvest have pastors who are willing to personally engage in the harvest.
If the pastor doesn’t personally engage in the harvest, the church doesn’t become a leadership farm system. After 20 years’ observation, I’ve yet to come across a single exception.
The pastor doesn’t need to be successful in the harvest, just trying. They can be slugging away and failing, but if they are consistently engaging and trying, somehow God transforms them so they can be used as an empowering leader. Unless a pastor is personally willing to engage, they’re not able to develop an effective leadership farm system. The lack of involvement creates defective DNA that eliminates fruitfulness.
As senior leader goes, so goes the church. That’s true in many different areas, but harvest engagement is a particularly important one.