30 minutes with Chris Vacher
On Nov 3rd, I had the privilege of speaking with Chris Vacher. Chris is an executive pastor at a Toronto church called C4 Church who specializes in creative leadership. Chris has been in ministry since 2005. He oversees multiple departments in their growing church with a congregation of about 3000 members and three different locations. In our talk, it became clear he feels called to lead, train and educate other artists to enable them to succeed. He explained to me that while artists are very passionate and creative, they often struggle with leadership. Through this calling Chris has created an online community of resources to help pastors and worship leaders to write and lead. His hope is to create a culture of learning for musicians.
During our interview, I asked Chris about his ideal future and where he would like to be in five years. I was informed that he was nearing the end of a five-year strategic plan that was in place before he was in his current role. Now he is in the beginning stages of developing a new strategic plan for the church. Chris is a visionary leader with a heart for reaching others. Of course, it was no surprise that his ideal future would be for the church and their ministry to have a global reach. He would love to see his church be involved in more projects globally. Recently C4 church has had the opportunity to be involved with a church in Germany. From my understanding, they have been invited to lead a conference there in the future. Chris reiterated to me throughout the conversation that his church’s vision is less about them but more about how they can equip and serve others to better serve others. A personal goal of his is to be an inspirational leader and foster generational leadership.
Next, I asked Chris how he planned on achieving these goals. The answer was to finish the TWU Masters in the Leadership program. Also to get involved and take an active role in leading more conferences and projects. He believes that being a vital part of the staff will help prove his effectiveness now.
In our brief conversation, I learned that Chris has the heart of a servant leader and puts his followers before himself. His natural leadership skills are futuristic visionary, building partnerships and innovation.