Q & A with Pastor Dudley - Part 2

Article featured in the Valley Voice Newspaper (San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles) in April 2008.

Valley Voice: What is your biggest challenge as a leader of a staff for a congregation of this size?
Dudley Rutherford: My biggest challenge is to constantly be looking for quality staff to bring around me and help fulfill the mission of the church. Today, I am a blessed man because of the 150 people who make up our church staff—each of whom are called by God and gifted in a particular area. Collectively we just make a great team.

VV: What makes a good leader?
DR: I have heard it said that if no one is following your direction or your dreams then you’re not really a leader. So, I think being a good leader is the ability to get people to follow and invest in one’s dreams and direction. I believe God has put certain leadership skills within me—the ability to cast vision and the ability to guide and pastor a church. You have to have a clear vision of what God wants, a clear vision of the call of God upon your life, and you need to get up every day with a purpose and a passion to work toward that calling. I know that the two main things God has called me to do as a pastor is to preach His word (meaning, to speak His truth from the Bible) and to share that with as many people as possible. I believe I am not only to do that, but I am also to articulate the Lord’s directions and ambitions for our church.


VV: How do you stay grounded?
DR: I stay grounded by knowing that this is God’s church. It’s the Lord’s church, and it’s not mine. I know that the time the Lord has me here is just for a season. My father was the one who first told me, “Only believe about 10 percent of someone’s bragging on, or criticism of you.” Because when someone criticizes you, there might be a little truth to it and you might need to change some things. Also, if someone brags on you or compliments you, you’re probably not as great as they say you are, but there’s probably a little truth in it as well. So, I’ve always tried to remain humble before the Lord. I try to serve him and serve others—knowing that this is His church, that I’m just someone He has called to lead here for this particular season, and that He is already preparing the person who will follow after me. I just do the very best I can each and every day.

VV: What’s next for Shepherd of the Hills?
DR: Our church is starting satellite campuses across the Valley and the state of California. We have a satellite campus in Freemont, Brentwood, Agua Dulce, Pasadena, and Woodland Hills. This year, we’re launching a campus in the Antelope Valley and one in Compton, and I’m real excited about these two new ventures. After that, I don’t know what we’ve got planned except that we might start planting churches overseas. That will be a very challenging but rewarding goal.

VV: What is your ideal day off?
DR: My ideal day off is to not go in the office, but to fish or to play a round of golf with some friends. It’s good for me to be away from the church, and the pressures of the church, on a day of rest. Both fishing and golf have to do with being outdoors and with nature, and I just really enjoy that. I also enjoy hitting a good bookstore, and you’d be surprised but I actually enjoy shopping some.

VV: Who are your favorite sports teams and why?
DR: My favorite sports teams in college football are the Oklahoma Sooners and the UCLA Bruins. For baseball, I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan, because my grandfather and my dad were both Cardinals fans. For basketball, I love the Los Angeles Lakers. I find myself following all kinds of sports from NASCAR to golf to the X Games.

VV: Name three people you admire most in this world, alive today or passed, and why:
DR: Well, obviously admire the Lord Jesus Christ first and foremost for what He did for us by dying on the cross and giving me the gift He offers freely to everyone, the gift of everlasting life. The second-most person I admire would be my father, for raising me in a Christian home, always setting a good example for me, and teaching me how to preach and how to be a man. It would be interesting to go back in a time machine to when Abraham Lincoln was giving the Gettysburg Address and get to spend time with him. I’m always amazed by what some of these historical greats accomplished back in the day before modern technology and travel. Lincoln would be my third pick.

VV: You’re stranded on a deserted island. Name one book, one food, one CD (and you can’t say your ipod), and one other personal item that you’d want to have there with you:
DR: Obviously, my one book is going to be the Bible. My one food would be any kind of Mexican food, and my one CD would probably be any album by MercyMe. The one other personal item I’d want there with me would be my fishing pole.

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