What is Co-Pastoring?

The Foursquare Church has developed a structure for appointing and supporting a Co-Pastor leadership model for local churches. This leadership model is a dual-appointment that recognizes the unique giftings and strengths that each leader brings to their pastoral calling. It allows co-pastors to divide the various responsibilities of pastoral leadership between themselves while giving them equal authority in the leadership decisions and oversight of a church’s congregational life.

You can read more from Foursquare in this update published Feb 3, 2022. 
Clarifications + distinctions for the role of co-pastor in the local church.

Why Co-Pastor?

While the traditional model of local church leadership with a single senior leader has been and continues to be an effective model for many churches, the co-pastoring model is particularly helpful in certain ways. For one, in its very nature, co-pastoring is more collaborative. Since pastoring a church involves many different responsibilities and activities that require all kinds of skills and giftings, the co-pastoring model allows for these leadership responsibilities to be shared with more than one person. 

Co-pastoring allows for strategic leadership partnership based on the unique diverse gifts, skillsets, temperaments, communication styles, and personality types that each pastor brings to the team. Each pastor holds primary oversight and concern over different aspects of the church’s ministry, but they work with each other and the whole church leadership team to see through initiatives. In this way, they increase perspective and insight while sharing the weight of tasks and hopefully reducing stressors that often lead to leadership isolation and pastoral burnout.

Co-Pastoring at CitySalt

At CitySalt, Aaron and Mike each have particular areas of oversight and responsibility while working together with the entire CitySalt leadership team. Aaron directs conversations around strategic initiatives, the articulation and implementation of our organizational mission, vision, and core values, our teaching series outlines, and our strategic communication. Mike provides direct support to our ministry team leads, connecting new folks to the congregation, connecting the congregation to one another, and connecting CitySalt to serve and bless our city. Together, both pastors share equal teaching responsibilities for Sundays, various roles in the Sunday gathered service, meeting with congregation members, participating in church council meetings, and hosting various small group gatherings.