The preacher power trap is the gap between how much power we feel we have and how much power we actually exercise.
Many of us think of ourselves as “just one voice,” perhaps even a tired or embattled one. Yet simply by standing in the pulpit or sitting at the head of the elders’ table, we carry more weight than we realise. People listen differently. They hesitate to disagree. They reorganise their time, money, and consciences around what we say.
When we don’t acknowledge this, we can unintentionally use our power in ways that silence, pressure, or wound the very people we’re called to serve. The trap is not that pastors have power; it’s that we pretend we don’t—and then use it without reflection.
The Power You Already Bring: French & Raven
Social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven described several “bases” of power—sources from which influence flows. Pastors typically arrive in ministry already holding multiple kinds of power, whether they feel it or not.
Here are a few that are almost always present:
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Legitimate power: This is the power of office. “Pastor,” “Reverend,” “Minister,” “Priest” are not just titles; they signal that the community has entrusted you with responsibility for teaching, oversight, and spiritual care. People assume you have a right to speak and decide in certain areas.
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Expert power: Congregations presume you know the Bible, theology, church history, and “how things work.” Even if you feel under‑trained, members will often treat your word on spiritual and moral matters as more authoritative than their own.
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Referent power: Over time, affection, admiration, and trust attach to you. People come to see you as a spiritual parent, guide, or friend. They don’t just agree with you; they want to stay close to you. That attachment amplifies your influence.
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Informational power: You decide which texts are preached, which stories are told, which issues are highlighted, and which are left alone. You curate reality for the congregation. Even simple choices—what to include in a sermon, what to leave out—shape how people see God, themselves, and the world.
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Reward and coercive power: In many churches, you (or your leadership team) have sway over who is affirmed, invited to lead and/or preach, hired, or invited into key spaces. You don’t need to be harsh for people to feel that disagreeing with you might cost them.
Notice: none of this requires you to be domineering. It comes with the role. The question is not, “Do I have power?” but, “How am I stewarding the power I inevitably have?”
How Congregations Tend to Respond by Default
If pastors carry power, congregations take up positions around that power. Most communities develop an unspoken “default stance” toward pastoral authority. Without ever naming it, people learn how to lean.
A few common default postures:
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Deferential: “Pastor knows best.”
In more traditional or highly trusting contexts, members are inclined to accept pastoral decisions and teaching with minimal question. Disagreement feels disloyal, even sinful. -
Dependent: “We can’t move without the pastor.”
Here, the congregation unconsciously hands its agency upwards. People wait for the pastor’s vision, the pastor’s idea, the pastor’s initiative. The pastor becomes the main locus of energy and responsibility. -
Distrustful: “Pastor will hurt us if we let them.”
In communities with histories of abuse, conflict, or moral failure, members may assume any strong leadership is dangerous. They may resist, disengage, or work around the pastor to protect themselves. -
Divided: “Different groups, different instincts.”
In many churches, insiders (long‑term members, certain cultural groups) lean deferential or dependent, while marginalised groups (women, migrants, younger generations, survivors of harm) lean wary or distrustful. The same sermon or decision can land as “finally, leadership!” for one group and “here we go again” for another.
Why does this matter? Because when you lead, people are not neutral. Some are already primed to say yes, some to say no, and some to disappear quietly. Wise leading starts by noticing where your people are leaning, not by assuming everyone hears you the way you intend.
Systemic and institutional power
Systemic power is the power built into wider social and institutional arrangements, often in ways we do not see. It’s the broader social patterns that make it easier for some people to be heard and harder for others, no matter what anyone intends.
Women walk into our churches with systemic power disparities. Women, especially those who have experienced abuse or domestic violence, often begin from a disadvantaged position. In Australia and globally, domestic and family violence is a gendered issue: women are more likely to be victim‑survivors and men more likely to be perpetrators. When you lead, a significant number of women in front of you are not starting from “neutral.” They may already be negotiating fear, loyalty, shame, and survival. Your words carry systemic weight into that space.
Taking a Walk Around the Power Circuit
So how do we avoid the preacher power trap? One practice I’d commend is a regular “walk around the power circuit.” Think of it as part of your sermon prep, leadership planning, or pastoral decision‑making.
Here are four stops on that walk.
Stop 1: My role power
Questions to ask:
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What role‑based power am I using here?
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If someone in the congregation disagreed with what I’m about to say or decide, how easy or costly would it be for them to voice that?
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Have I been explicit about the limits of my authority? Do people know where they have the right and responsibility to decide for themselves?
- Do I fully understand the types of systemic power disparities that exist in my congregation? How safe do they feel? How can I make it safer?
Stop 2: My relational power
Questions to ask:
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Who is most likely to agree with me simply because they trust or admire me?
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Are there people who might follow my lead against their own better judgement just to keep my approval?
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Do I genuinely make it emotionally safe for people to question me?
Stop 3: Systemic power in the room
Questions to ask:
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Whose voices are most often heard in our services and decision‑making spaces? Whose are conspicuously absent?
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How might gender, race, class, disability, or immigration status affect how people hear what I’m about to say?
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Am I about to ask the most vulnerable people in the room to carry the heaviest burden?
Stop 4: Returning to the servant‑shepherd posture
Questions to ask:
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In this moment, what would it look like to use my power to give power away—clarifying responsibility, sharing decisions, opening doors, protecting the vulnerable?
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Where might I need to slow down, seek consensus, or invite others to speak before I speak again?
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How can I make clear that my authority is derivative (from Christ and the community), accountable, and oriented toward their flourishing, not my comfort?
Servant‑shepherd leadership is not leadership without power; it is leadership that knows its power, names it, and bends it consistently toward the good of the flock—especially the weakest sheep on the edges of the field.
Here’s a downloadable tool you can use to take a walk around your power circuit