The Preachers League is a team of preachers within a church who join together to teach truth, justice, and the Gospel-way. This teaching team works in concert to bring the Word of God to those in the congregation. Assembling a Preachers League in your church can be incredibly valuable. It can help prevent burnout, make sure the senior pastor is being fed as well, and ensure some pastoral discipleship is occurring. It also brings some variety to the church – different skills, different styles, different voices. Here are some different types to be looking out for:
Superman – This is usually the Senior Pastor. He thinks he doesn’t need any help and to be totally honest he usually doesn’t. In fact the other preachers sometimes cause him more problems than if he was just to do it himself. But Superman knows even he needs a vacation every once and a while, and what if he gets called to a new city. Metropolis City Church will still need preachers. But even more importantly Superman needs to be protected from himself. If he goes rogue, who will there be to stop him? Maybe the rest combined could stop him.
Batman – This Preacher tends to deal with the dark stuff. He’s pretty intense and serious. Superman is friendly and all smiles. Batman talks about sin, death, and hell. He doesn’t think the other Preachers speak on such things enough, and drops the “H-bomb” on them every once and a while. He thinks Paul Washer isn’t quite serious enough. But Batman is totally worth keeping around. He’s smart, keeps you on your toes, and is ready to step-up and lead when the need arises.
Flash – He’s hilarious. Many times he’s the youth or children’s pastor. He speaks a million miles an hour, uses tons of pop-cultural references, and everybody loves him. He’s as friendly as can be and gets away with not being the best Preacher in the world because he’s endearing. He has a lot to learn, but he’s a good guy that could become a great Preacher one day.
Cyborg – This guy is half teacher, half preacher, but all interesting. He’s very intelligent, almost too intelligent for his own good. The congregation doesn’t always understand what he’s saying, but they learn a ton nonetheless. He never went into full-time ministry because he’s torn by his former life. He cannot quite give that up, but wants to use this gift of preaching for good in the mean time.
Green Lantern – This Preacher always comes up with some off the wall stuff. He’s in love with object lessons and visual illustrations, and it ends up being all that people remember. He once was a Senior Pastor himself but things just didn’t work out. He’s just not a solo-act kind of guy. He works best as part of a team.
Aquaman – He’s great in certain circumstances, but most of the time people just groan when it’s his turn. He’s just kind of a weird dude. He has some strange interests, and just doesn’t seem to really connect with anyone. Again, there are certain arenas that he’s really helpful in, just not most. He gets the least amount of opportunities but is kept in the Preachers League because one day he could develop into something neat. Maybe a chaplain on a cruise ship?
Wonder Woman – Whoa lady preacher in the rotation!?! Eeek. I’m not prepared to handle the comments from her inclusion. There’s no doubt she’s equally as capable as even Superman himself. She even certainly has a gifting to preach. The question then comes down to role and opportunity (which are 2 different things.) From a biblical perspective some have no problem with her being part of the League, but others have some legitimate concerns. The easy thing to say is she needs to be heavily involved in the church and in women’s ministry… but perhaps there could be more… Coming soon… The Preachers League Part II.
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Joe Allotta 