The main role of any pastor is to be a Faithful Disciple. This is fundamental and primary. Therefore, we set it apart from the 5 roles below.

Most pastors wear different "hats" - diverse areas of responsibilities which the church leaders either fulfill or oversee others to carry them out. Pastors need to have enough capacity in each role to make sure church ministry is effective and done with excellence.

The 5 "hats" pastors wear are:

• Catalytic Planter
• Trustworthy Teacher
• Visionary Shepherd
• Capable Administrator
• Generous Multiplier

There are plenty of resources to help minority culture pastors, especially in theology, Bible study (hermeneutics), and preaching (homiletics). However, pastors need training in all 5 roles, and resources for all 5 for minority culture pastors are not as plentiful.

(Note: we use the term "pastor," but a given case may be an elder, staff member, potential leader, as so on.)

Minority culture ministry has unique challenges and often too few resources to help. For example, even if a congregation is not a new plant, there is still much about minority culture ministry that traditional church planting skills can address. Or consider that evangelism and growth often happen at slower rates than majority culture ministries are accustomed to, but that doesn't mean they are being less "successful."

The "5 Hats" approach addresses all 5 through assessment, planning, development, re-assessment, celebration.

• Assessment - a pastor completes an assessment tool in each of the 5 roles to determine the plan specific to that pastor
• Planning - based on the assessment results, a pastor and his coach determine a plan of what areas need work and in what order
• Development - the pastor uses the tools and resources available for each area of development, with the help of the coach, working at his own pace
• Re-assessment - after a pastor finishes the development in a particular role, he takes the assessment for that role over again to measure improvement
• Celebration - when the plan has been completed, we want to celebrate with the pastor the growth and equipping that he has experienced

• Apprentice - a pastor or leader going through the program
• Apprentice congregation - we expect the training to involve several in the church, not just the apprentice/pastor
• Coach - an experienced pastor who works with the apprentice on planning and development
• Director - a member of the MWD team who oversees the process and conducts the assessments
• Resource church - minority culture churches will benefit greatly if there is one or more resources churches to walk with them through the process (and beyond); this can include providing the coach, providing advice and counsel, and providing financial assistance

"Success" needs to be defined for all parties involved.

• Apprentice/congregation - the coach will help the apprentice and apprentice congregation determine for themselves what a successful outcome would be
• Coach - a coach is success when the apprentice is successful
• Director - the MWD will measure success by the changes between assessment and re-assessment results
• Resource church - it is crucial for a resource church to have realistic expectations, so the coach and apprentice will develop with the resource church a reasonable definition of success (often in minority culture ministry, it is inappropriate to expect majority culture results from minority culture ministries)

This is the first and primary “role” of a pastor. Every step of this equipping is more concerned with the pastor being a Faithful Disciple than anything else. So much so that we call it the “0th” role before the other 5.

The pastor who is attentive first to his own walk as a follower of Jesus. Acts 20:28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.

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The apostolic personality who either builds a planting team around him or builds a planting mindset in the leaders of an established church. Able to train others in evangelism and discipleship. 

“Catalytic” means he can activate others to take responsibility and help move the congregation toward the goals (see “Success” above). Not all good church leaders are catalytic.

Note: Minority culture pastors often have church experiences in their home culture that don’t necessarily translate to church ministry in the US. This means a mindshift for the pastor, the congregation, and perhaps even the Resource Church. However, many church planter approaches are applicable for minority culture congregations in the US, even if the church is already established.

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The teacher who is capable in all stages of homiletics: exegesis, sermon-craft, theology, credentialing, etc.

“Trustworthy” means the teaching of the Word is faithful to the text.

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The pastor who shepherds the flock, develops elders, manages staff, etc. He is able to provide vision or lead a team to develop vision. He puts family first, he guards the role of the wife, he raises his children knowing the issues of PKs. He has a written sabbatical policy in place.

“Visionary” means he can see what does not yet exist and can describe it to others, rallying them toward that vision. Or, he can lead a group of leaders to do the same.

Note: For many minority culture pastors and congregants, the idea of a plurality of elders is a new concept. Before developing elders, the pastor needs to develop an understanding of eldership and buy-in to the polity model.

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The man who can do or oversee the following: budgeting, finances, taxes (church and clergy), founding documents (and annual renewals), fundraising, church polity, etc.

“Capable” means able to complete the basic requirements of the task, even if it’s not a particular strength. Or he can oversee others to do the same and verify their work.

Note: Many pastors (of any culture) are not gifted in administration, but they still must be functional enough to get the work done or lead those who can. This is rarely why a person feels called into ministry!

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A man who can replicate and release new leaders in new works. From the very beginning, the Pastor needs to think multiplication even before he’s ready to. We do not want to build a mentality or structures that need to be reworked when it comes time to multiply. We must build in from the beginning that replication will be expected, that we are training them how to train others.

“Generous” means building the Kingdom as a priority over building one’s ministry, generously “giving it away.”

NOTE: Developing elders in particular is grouped with “Visionary Shepherd,” since elders are shepherds as a group along with the pastor.

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