The Steward
Money and systems
Wired for operations: budgets, facilities, staffing plans, reporting the board can rely on. Treats the church's money and systems as a trust to be managed faithfully.
Free guide for senior pastors and their boards
You brought it to the board. They asked one question. "But what would an Executive Pastor actually do?"
A board-ready guide that defines the role by what it owns, names the three kinds of Executive Pastors, and gives you a role definition you can drop straight into a board document.
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A board-ready guide from Clearway
What does an Executive Pastor actually do?
The Steward, the Shepherd, and the Strategist.
clearway.co
Free PDF
The problem
The role keeps getting defined by subtraction.
01
"Someone to take things off my plate." True to the experience. Impossible to put in front of a board.
02
A role with no edges can't be evaluated. If the job is "everything you're too busy for," success is invisible and accountability is impossible.
03
So the board hesitates. Not because they doubt you. Because they can't picture the role.
A board that asks for a clear definition isn't blocking the hire. It's getting ready to stand behind it.
What's inside
Everything your board needs to picture the role.
Send me the guide A board-ready guide from Clearway
What does an Executive Pastor actually do?
The Steward, the Shepherd, and the Strategist.
clearway.co
What every XP owns: the five foundations (Priorities, People, Process, Performance, Plan) and the four leadership rhythms that keep them strong.
The three kinds of Executive Pastors: the Steward, the Shepherd, and the Strategist, and how to tell which one your church is missing.
The four marks every candidate must meet, plus the one question of fit that decides the pairing.
A role definition built to be lifted straight into a board document. Photocopy the page.
Three honest ways to fill the role, with real costs, including the option nobody puts on the table.
14 pages. Reads in under 20 minutes. Written for the board table, not the bookshelf.
The three kinds
The same role, carried three different ways.
Sample XP job descriptions contradict each other because the role bends toward the person carrying it. The title won't tell you which one you're looking at. Their instincts will.
The Shepherd
Every ministry in one orbit
Wired for shepherding the team. Staff feel pastored, silos soften, and the ministries that used to compete for the same weekend start rowing in the same direction.
The Strategist
Vision translated into motion
Wired for translation: takes what the senior pastor sees and turns it into decisions, owners, and dates. Runs the room well when you're in it and better when you're not.
None of the three is the "real" Executive Pastor. The guide shows you which kind your church is missing, and which kind fits how your senior pastor is wired.
Churches like yours
Trusted by 100+ growing churches across 25+ denominations.
"Clearway brought clarity, alignment, and healthier leadership rhythms. We're stronger, multiplying, and better equipped to carry what God has entrusted to us."
Ron Baker
Lead Pastor, Vitalpoint Church
About Clearway
Chris Vacher · Founder, Clearway
Chris Vacher spent twenty years in ministry, including as an executive pastor in a large multisite church, before founding Clearway. The team is seasoned pastors who coach pastors: practitioners, not theorists.
Bring your board an answer,
not just a hiring request.
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