What's It like to Be General Superintendent?

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.

What the role is — overseer, chair, and what the office is not

• The question posed (in the host's frame): this particular episode is airing on a holiday the frame names — the unofficial start of summer, here in North America (as the frame puts it). So because of that, we're going to do a little bit of a, maybe, change of pace today. Our question is going to be a little bit unusual, compared to what we normally talk about. You're the general superintendent, of the United Pentecostal Church International. Which means: you're the leader of our organization. So the question for today is: what is it like, to be the general superintendent? Can you walk us through, what your responsibilities are? And maybe tell us: what a day in the life, of the general superintendent, is like? The answer: all right — if you really want to know, I'll do my best. Let me first describe, what the role is. So: the general superintendent is the general overseer, of all aspects of the work. We have a constitution, for the upci. And one of the things it says, is: the general manager, of all the divisions. So all the various divisions — Ministries — report to the general superintendent, directly, indirectly. The general superintendent is the chair of the General Conference ('General Seward is the chair', as heard), chair of the general board ('the Gerald board', as heard). So the general conference is the highest governing body. The general board acts in between the general conference — and then the executive board. So the general superintendent is a chair, of those boards, and that conference. The general superintendent can't personally go to all district conferences. But either he, or his designated executive representative, is supposed to conduct the elections, of all the district conferences. And then the general superintendent is the chair, of the global Council — which is our international governing body, coordinating body. So you might say, the CEO — you know, in American terms, we think of as like the president of the United States. It'd be a very similar role, in many ways. What it doesn't mean: the general superintendent is not the pastor of pastors ('the general stupid is not the pastor of pastors', as heard — the office's title is garbled in the letters throughout). Not the pastor of District superintendents. Each local church is self-governing. So the general superintendent doesn't have the right, to go in the local church, and tell them to do anything. Likewise: each district has its own operation. So the general superintendent May guide, and advise. And he does preside, over the elections of District conferences. But the district superintendent presides, over the rest of the business, and over the sectional conferences. So really, the district is a self-governing unit, in some ways. Again, those who are familiar with U.S law: it's like federalism. You have a state government, that's not directly — and accountable to, or controlled by, the federal government. There are interactions, certainly. And then around the world: we have churches, in almost every nation of the world. And some of them are organized, with their own leadership. When they come to maturity, they get their own Constitution, their own organization. And they're completely self-governing. But they're connected, through the global council, with ties of Doctrine, and fellowship, and coordination of international efforts. Those that are not self-governing are LED — led — typically, by missionaries from North America. Which, of course — global missions would report, to the general superintendent. So I would be directly supervising all those — I say, directly: it's obviously delegated. But I would have responsibility, over all those works, that are operated from North America. I wouldn't really have responsibility, for self-governing works — except as the chair of the global Council. In that regard, it's kind of like the king of England, and the Commonwealth. So: while they're self-governing Nations, they're still Bound, in ties of friendship, and trade agreements, and special status. And so the king kind of — symbolically — when he goes to those countries — at least in theory, and in the past, it's had less today — he kind of is a symbolic symbol, of the unity of the British Commonwealth. And so, in a way: even though it might be a self-governing country, in some way I'm representing the example, the influence, and the guidance, of the International Church. Okay: so hopefully that gives some description, of what I do.

The practical week — office in St. Louis, travel, preaching

• So, on a practical level: every week is different. But, of course: our headquarters is in St Louis — actually, the suburb Weldon Spring, Missouri ('Missouri U.S say', as the letters stand). I have Offices here. So I'm usually in office, a portion of three out of four weeks. And I'm usually traveling, every week, to various conferences, or ministerial events. Men — Ministry events. Ministering, sometimes, in local churches. So, although I'm not required to minister in local churches frequently, I'm asked to do special occasions: anniversaries, dedications, installations. Or just ministering, in a church, to represent the upci. So almost every weekend, I'm preaching, in a local church, somewhere. Now, I do block off time, for vacations, for holidays. And so I'm, you know — I'll take a couple weeks at Christmas, or a week at Thanksgiving. And maybe some of those days, I'll be working from home. Or working on the road, through — you know — with the internet, email, text, and phone, you can do almost everything. But just as a general rule, then: I try to be in the office, physically, three out of four weeks. Not always the whole week. Because many of those weeks, I'm going to a conference, or something. But having a physical presence: because throughout the year, there are meetings. So there are various in-house meetings: like the senior leadership team. The all Executives meeting. Or there are also various committees and boards, that come to St Louis, to meet. And usually I will meet with them, for a time — even if I'm not chairing that meeting, or I'm not on that board. They want me to come, give Vision, Direction, answer questions, work on a particular issue that they may be working on — a problem, or proposal, they may have. So I need to be physically available: for meetings with individual Leaders, with employees, with boards, with committees. As well as just doing office work: of trying to keep up with letters, emails, texts, phone calls. And so, just to do all that, I need to be physically in office, I feel like. And so that's the goal I've set. But every week — except for the times I blocked off, for vacation, or holidays, or rest — I am traveling somewhere, to a conference, a ministerial event, or preaching in a local church. I still try to preach, in the church that I established in Austin — which is pastored by Rodney Shaw. But approximately: my wife's parents are still living. So for things like Mother's Day, and Father's Day, we try to be there with them. And they usually ask me to preach ('they use them ask to preach', as the letters stand), in a — New Life Austin — approximately six times a year. And then there are 21 works, that came out of that original work: either as daughter works, or Minister — ministers — sent from that church, in the Austin area. So I usually try to preach for those, as they ask. And I can usually get around to them, about once every two years. So perhaps one third of the Sundays, I'm going to be preaching in Austin, or in Central Texas: for a daughter — former daughter — work. Or maybe even a neighboring church, that I've had close relationships with over the years ('relationshipsSign overin the years', as the letters stand — a caption fragment fused into the sentence, standing as delivered).

The district and international rounds — and taking rest

• So it's a lot of travel. I usually — before I was general superintendent, I was taking three overseas missions trips a year, for preaching and teaching. I've expanded that, typically, to five. And again: for some, they want, and need, specific teaching, preaching. But for many, it's part of maintaining a close relationship, with the International Church. Sometimes seeking guidance, or Direction. I think it's very important: as we get more and more National churches — we have about 60 churches, with their — uh — 16 nations, with their own self-governance (as the figures stand in the letters). So they could just be totally independent, if they wanted. So I feel like it's part of my job, to keep them connected: through vision, through Fellowship, through support. And even though some are self-governing, they're relatively new. So they still want, and need, guidance. If they're — there are — problems: they want support. They want help. They want advice. And so I try to be strategic. In fact: I've visited every nation, where we have at least 25 000 constituents. And in Europe, the Middle East — the churches aren't that big — I visited every National Church we've — we've had at least 2 000 constituents. And we have 58 districts, in the U.S and Canada, which is our home base. So I made a point, when I became General — superintendent — to try to visit every one of those: for a district conference, a ministerial seminar, a camp, or some big event. So it took me five or six years, to visit the first round — just because of scheduling: so many conferences are at the same time, and I can't travel all the time. And so I've pretty much, I think, done the second round, of all of that. And I try to be strategic: of the districts that ask for my help, or want me to be there. The largest Districts. The Districts that have the greatest need of growth, based on the population. So I can go there, and be strategic, and encouraging them. Planning with them. Or inspiring them, if I can, from my position. So every week is different. There is no typical week. I do try to take off one day a week. So if I'm back in Texas, preaching on the weekend: a lot of times I'll take Saturday off, or Monday off. If I have to go a couple of weeks of solid trips, I'll try to take two days off, three days off. Sometimes I'll take a week at home, in our permanent home in Austin. But I'll be working intermittently. So I may work two or three of those days — through zoom, and email, and calls. And, you know: some — many of those are full work days. But it's working from a home, where I can concentrate, on certain projects.

Accountability, the entities, and team leadership

• So it's a great variety. We're very busy. But I'm trying to guide each division, in — and — Ministry. Try to be available, to each district. Try to be available, to each Nation. Try to cast vision, for the whole organization. Try to work with policies, procedures, structure. A big part of it is financial oversight. But we have teams, that do all that. You know: we have a general secretary treasurer. We have a chief administrative officer. We have a finance committee, internally. We have a budget Committee, of the general board, externally. We have general board meetings twice a year — and I give a report to them. We have a general conference, one — once a — year: I give a report to the general conference. So I think it's very important, for me to be accountable. Even though I'm the CEO, I have to be accountable, to the general board, and the general conference. And I have to work with leaders, who are elected in their own right. So it's not just me — a matter of telling them what to do ('telling them Sign to in do things', as the letters stand — the same fused caption fragment). It's a matter of working together. I cast vision, for the whole organization. But they have vision, for their own area. And I'm trying to support them, in what they, and their boards, want. So it's a collaborative effort. I hope, a team leadership. Where no one person could do it all. And no one person could be the answer, for everything. But together: we can have an effective team, that can accomplish the will of God. Financially, we have — we have various structures. And legally: we have urson college (as heard). ocean Graduate School of Theology (as heard). The urson support organization (as heard). We have the United Pentecostal Foundation. The United Pentecostal long fund (as heard — the loan fund). Ministers retirement fund. Insurance company. And so I'm on all those boards, in one way or the other. So: to get the work done, we have many different entities. But we all flow into the umbrella, of the United Pentecostal Church International. So it's my job, to be the managerial leader. And hopefully, the spiritual leader, in a general sense, of helping all of us to move forward, in the will of God.