It’s Saturday, and you’re wondering where the week went. The phone calls, missing items and small problems all received attention. Your sermon still needs work.

In my years of consulting, I’ve seen pastors struggle with the same leadership challenge across churches of different sizes: empowering other people while giving themselves to the core work of their calling.

How do pastors escape urgent demands? By protecting essential responsibilities, equipping others to carry real authority and making important decisions with their leaders. A better diary helps, but leadership habits need to change too.

Pastor and author Darrell Stetler II draws those lessons from Acts 6, 11 and 15 in his book BOLD: How the Early Church Changed the World, and We Can Too. Our conversation connects delegation with something pastors also need space for: innovation and wise discernment.

Key Takeaways

• Use Acts 6 and Exodus 18 to discuss essential pastoral responsibilities.
• Ask honestly why tasks keep returning to you.
• Delegate with support and authority so other leaders can grow.
• Make room to reach people your church isn’t currently reaching.
• Move toward difficult conversations and communicate decisions clearly.

Protect the Essential Without Dismissing the Need

The feeding problem in Acts 6 was serious. Some widows were being overlooked, and the complaint involved tensions between groups in the church. This wasn’t a trivial interruption.

Yet the apostles didn’t solve the problem by personally taking over the entire programme. They arranged for capable people to carry the responsibility while maintaining their focus on prayer and the ministry of the word.

I think that pastors are going to have to figure out how to do what is important more than what is urgent.
— Darrell Stetler II

Darrell points pastors to Acts 6 and Exodus 18 as crucial frameworks. Both challenge the assumption that a leader should personally carry every need.

I’d begin with a simple question: What essential work repeatedly disappears from my week? Then ask who could take responsibility for the demands crowding it out. My weekly schedule for a pastor gives one example of putting priorities into the diary.

Have the Honest Conversation With Yourself

Darrell describes a familiar week consumed by random phone calls, busy work and trying to find things someone has misplaced. By Saturday, sermon preparation has slipped.

Where did the week go and why am I not ready to preach?
— Darrell Stetler II

Before blaming everyone else, he suggests an honest conversation with the person in the mirror. Do I believe I’m the only one who can do this? Am I keeping responsibility because I’m reluctant to release it?

Those are uncomfortable questions, but they can reveal why delegation hasn’t happened. Another person may be able to perform a task well enough while developing greater ability through experience.

Pastor, make a list of what landed on your desk this week. What genuinely needed your involvement? What came to you because it’s how your church has always worked? My article on why pastors feel overwhelmed can help you identify the wider pressures around those patterns.

Give Emerging Leaders Responsibility and Backing

Darrell’s next step is to speak honestly with key leaders and board members about the workload.

I’m overwhelmed. Let’s read Acts 6.
— Darrell Stetler II

That gives the discussion a shared starting point. Together, identify responsibilities that could move to others and the support those people would need.

loan them their influence in a tough time.
— Darrell Stetler II

I like that phrase. An emerging leader may have the ability to act but need the pastor’s public backing. If you give them a role and then undermine every decision, the work soon returns to you.

Choose someone, explain the outcome you’re seeking, clarify what they can decide and agree on when you’ll review progress. My guide to developing emerging leaders offers practical ways to make that investment. Coaching and mentoring can help you support growth without taking every task back.

For bivocational pastors, time constraints are different. I’d make those realities explicit with your leaders and agree on expectations you can actually carry.

Create Space to Reach People Beyond Your Usual Circle

Darrell loves the Acts 11 story of believers reaching beyond familiar cultural boundaries. We aren’t even given the names of the people taking those steps.

Unknown people in an ungodly environment,
— Darrell Stetler II

Their example challenges the idea that innovation belongs to famous leaders with large platforms. Darrell asks who isn’t being reached and which audiences others feel hesitant to approach.

I remember bringing our youth pastor into my office in the 1990s and saying we were going into high schools. Christian involvement in Australian schools could be delicate, but we wanted to find a way to serve and reach that setting.

When I said “we”, I meant I was commissioning the youth pastor to do the work. Our church went on to build a history of nearly 30 years in high schools in that region.

That story joins innovation and delegation. I didn’t have to lead every activity personally. I needed to recognise an opportunity and release someone to pursue it. Ask where your church could take a thoughtful, appropriate next step outside its usual circle.

Move Toward Difficult Conversations

Acts 15 offers another leadership challenge. The church had to work through serious questions about what should be expected of Gentile believers.

Darrell describes how the leaders moved toward one another, listened to testimonies and discussed what God was doing. They kept the focus on Jesus rather than simply defending their own camps.

They move toward each other.
— Darrell Stetler II

That’s a useful challenge when leaders are tempted to retreat into separate conversations or take shots at one another online. Important questions deserve direct engagement.

I’d bring the relevant leaders together, name the question clearly and make room to listen. Ask what scripture teaches, what is happening among the people involved and how the church’s mission should shape the decision.

A pastor carrying every disagreement alone becomes another bottleneck. Shared discernment is part of responsible leadership, and honest conversations between boards and pastors help build the trust it requires.

Communicate the Decision and Keep the Main Thing Clear

The leaders in Acts 15 didn’t leave the discussion as an unresolved meeting. They communicated their decision in a letter, explaining expectations to the people affected.

refuse to make it harder than God did to follow Jesus.
— Darrell Stetler II

Darrell’s point is that leaders kept Jesus central and sought a clear way forward. The Gentile believers could receive the decision with relief rather than face an expanding list of unexplained demands.

In your church, clarify who owns the next step, what has been decided and how people will hear about it. Otherwise, the same question returns to the pastor repeatedly.

I’d also review whether the changes are protecting essential work. Are you finding space for prayer and preparation? Are other leaders carrying meaningful responsibility? Is there room to consider people beyond your existing congregation?

Escaping urgent demands takes more than an empty inbox. It takes a leadership approach that equips people, protects priorities and keeps the church moving together.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I decide what to delegate?

I’d identify the responsibilities central to my role, then look at tasks another person could carry with clear expectations and support. I’d discuss that distinction with my leaders.

Does Acts 6 mean I should ignore urgent needs?

I don’t read it that way. The need received a serious response through capable people. The apostles arranged a solution while protecting their primary responsibilities.

What if someone can’t do the task as well as I can?

I’d ask whether they can do it sufficiently well and grow with support. My preference for doing it myself shouldn’t prevent another person developing.

How can I make time for innovation?

I’d start by releasing suitable responsibilities, then set aside time to ask who our church isn’t reaching. My high-school story began with a focused opportunity and a commissioned leader.

How do I stop decisions coming back to me?

I’d clarify authority, communicate decisions and agree on review points. If people don’t know what they can decide, they’ll understandably keep asking me.

Choose one responsibility you can release this month. Talk it through with your leaders, back the person who takes it and protect the essential work that space makes possible. The serving quiz below can help you reflect on the culture you’re building around shared responsibility.