An article that I read today mentioned that Peter Drucker, who people have called a leadership guru, said that the 4 hardest jobs in the US are: President of the US, President of a University, CEO of a Hospital, and Pastor. Yeah, I made the top 4! Wait, do I want to be in this top 4?
The article went on to say that:
40% of pastors report a conflict with a church member at least once a month.
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85% of pastors said their greatest problem is they are tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors.
The #1 reason pastors leave the ministry is that church people are not willing to go the same direction and goal of the pastor. Pastors believe God wants them to go in one direction, but the people are not willing to follow or change.
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40% of pastors say they have considered leaving their pastorates in the last three months.
50% of ministers starting out will not last 5 years.
I am not writing about these things because I want sympathy or to have a pity party, I don’t want either. I am also not writing about me specifically or just my experiences, but I am writing for all the other pastors in the world. October is clergy appreciation month. Focus on the Family started publicizing this and encouraging clergy appreciation month in 1994. According to Focus on the Family “Our goal is that every pastor (including staff ministers) and his or her family would feel appreciated by those they serve.”
When I was in seminary I had a professor say that if we could do anything else we needed to do it. If, after knowing God’s call on our lives, we could be happy doing any other job, we needed to go and do it. The job of a pastor can be a very difficult and thankless job at times. Yes, we are called by God. Yes, we get to read the Bible a lot and spend time in prayer. Yes, we are often surrounded by wonderful people and get the blessing of seeing God work in their lives. Yes, we get to be a part of God at work. But there that is only part of the job. There is also criticism on almost everything you can think of and many times is criticism on different ends of the spectrum on the same thing (i.e. the sermon was too long, the sermon was too short, the class to too in-depth, the class wasn’t in-depth enough, we like your outfit, we don’t like your outfit, thank you for standing up for this, how could you stand up for that). It is never easy watching someone die or watching people grieve. Dealing with expectations, both realistic and some completely unrealistic, the idea that your life is perfect, the idea that you only work on Sundays, and that you never have problems are all things every pastor has to deal with. It is a wonderful job, but it is not an easy job at times.
Take a moment and encourage your pastor, regardless of what church you go to. Tell them that you appreciate all they do and that you are praying for them. I am not talking about appreciation that is unwarranted, but chances are you and thankful for something they do, so thank them. :-)
God bless, Rev. Liz Arakelian, www.LivingHopeEC.org
http://www.americapreachers.com/effective-ministry/effective-preaching/secret-pain-pastors/
