Seems to me there are two sources of authority for religious professionals. There is delegational or positional authority, which carries with it the power accorded it by the congregation’s officialdom. And then consensual authority, which is the authority granted by real live congregants, individually and collectively.
You must have both to do your job. Work solely from positional authority, and you will find your decisions rejected and ignored. Work solely from consensual authority, and you will find yourself deprived of the power to make decisions.
The business world uses a four-source model for authority (and the military borrows this model from the business world).
Here are the four sources of authority:
** Coercive power — based on the ability of a manager to force an employee to comply with an order through the threat of punishment.
** Legitimate power based on the belief among employees that their manager has the right to give orders based on his or her position.
** Reward power — rests on the ability of a manager to give some sort of reward to employees.
** Expert power — rests on the perception that the manager has “expert” knowledge that others don’t have.
In my district, I’ve seen ministers and non-ordained religious professionals (e.g. DREs) use all four sources depending on the situation.