After preaching the gospel and making disciples, stewardship is arguably the most important aspect of church ministry. In fact, effective preaching of the good news and successful discipleship can hinge on a church’s ability to steward the commission that Jesus imparted to the Church.
In other words, no aspect of ministry will be successful without proper stewardship.
For most churches across America, stewarding the mission, vision, values, and overall operations of the church usually lands in the lap of the senior pastor. But when senior pastors take on more than they can handle, burnout, stress, and family strains are commonly the result.
That’s where an executive pastor comes in.
The business of the church.
The executive pastor exists to ensure the congregation can execute its mission with excellence. He or she is charged with the responsibility of implementing organizational management in a church setting. Executive pastors focus on the business side of church operations, mainly overseeing the finances, properties, and organizational development of the ministry.
As a result, the presence of an executive pastor frees up the senior leader to focus on pastoral care, vision casting, and teaching.
The benefit an executive pastor provides is something not all churches have. Some church traditions, and especially smaller churches, assume that executive pastors belong in mega churches and expect senior pastors to simply pull up their bootstraps and keep on laboring for Jesus even if they’re beat to the ground.
But smaller churches can benefit significantly from this pastoral role too.
The leadership partnership.
The position of executive pastor is not new to church life—executive pastors have played a key role in the success of megachurches dating back to the late twentieth century. The role, however, has been much more common in larger and more entrepreneurial-minded churches. While churches may focus on their spiritual mission, administration and management are necessary parts of the whole that make up the church’s existence. If a church is not managed well, it cannot carry out its mission well.
When a partnership between the senior pastor and executive pastor is working well, it can look something like a Paul and Barnabas kind of relationship: two people working in concert with one another who play to each other’s strengths. As the complexity of a church increases—due to attendance growth, multiple locations, or a larger staff—the ability to share the leadership responsibility becomes increasingly important.
While the value may be apparent for larger churches, small churches who are active in their community may also have so much going on that the senior pastor cannot manage it all. In those situations, when the senior pastor shares responsibilities, this can help the church flourish rather than holding the church back.
One example is a small church in Culver City, California, called Vintage Faith. They had to learn on the fly how to stream their services during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also shifted financial investments to their thrift store, started a food pantry, and built a coffee shop; in all of these endeavors, their aim was to provide for their community.
In a small church, pastors often end up doing everything, including managing new ministry focuses like those at Vintage Faith. Senior ministers can often be a kind of round peg that’s forced to fit into lots of holes. But having an executive pastor on the Vintage Faith ministry team allowed the senior pastor to not have to be “all things,” leadership wise, and allowed the church to execute on its mission to impact the community.
Connecting executive pastors.
Executive leaders of churches often fall into one of two categories. Either they came up through ministry and have to learn the business side. Or they were in business and have to learn the ministry side. There are few people who have done both at the same time.
CDF Capital holds an annual summit for pastors called XP Summit. CDF Capital prioritizes this gathering for executive leaders of churches because the best way for them to learn is from each other.
“The executive pastor role is probably one of the most underrated roles in the church,” Christopher J. Harris, Executive Pastor at Crossover Church in Tampa, Florida, said.
And leaders in this underrated role need support too.
Congregations may not automatically understand the role of the executive pastor, and pastors can sometimes feel like they’re on an island. At CDF Capital, we’ve seen that attendees return to XP Summit year after year not just to be encouraged by thoughtful speakers, but because they want to connect and have conversations with other executive pastors who are dealing with the same things they are—day in and day out.
Get connected.
XP Summit 2026 will be held from May 4th through May 6th at Compass Christian Church in Dallas, Texas. If you are an executive pastor or you know an executive pastor who would like to connect with and learn from other ministry leaders, you can find out more information at xpsummit.org/about2026.
