I don’t often get to visit other churches on Sundays, but did so recently. I’d heard the pastor had two more weeks of service, but it turned out that particular Sunday was the final one. She (yes, unusual for a Baptist church) said it with a smile, but in plain language said she was done with local church ministry. I’m not sure what she’ll be doing, nor did she seem to know, but I wish her well.
Karen Carpenter sang haunting words in 1971: “Sometimes I’d like to quit / nothin’ ever seems to fit / Hangin’ around / nothin’ to do but frown / rainy days and Mondays always get me down.”
A shopworn joke amongst ministers is that we want to resign every Monday morning, whether rainy or not. I think it has to do with what we could have said better on Sunday or one more person we might have encouraged to be there to hear the gospel.
For some, it’s reminiscing over the Sunday afternoon deacons meeting where we heard of someone upset over this or that.
I’ve known a few pastors who quit. A recent Lifeway Christian Resources study found a number of reasons why.
Almost 70 percent of those who quit and were surveyed reported they felt “isolated” in their work with few close friends. A generation ago, pastors commonly warned us younger men not to form close friendships in our churches. We’d be accused of favoritism or lose our right to preach to them the truth, they said.
I think this idea has faded, but it’s still not uncommon for pastors to feel lonely.
Not surprisingly, conflict is a key factor in quitting, with a fairly new arena for fighting: national or local politics. It’s difficult for pastors to speak to moral issues and avoid politics. Those who did identify political conflict were two and a half times more likely to be in the “I’m out of here” category.
Another factor in quitting is pastoral pride. The survey found “the more a pastor attributes their church’s progress to themselves, the less likely they are to still be in the ministry (1.8 times).”
The sage counsel remains valid: “Don’t say ‘I’; say ‘we’”!
Studies show pastoral longevity is one key to healthy church growth. And it’s also true we’re experiencing a pastor shortage in America. There are good reasons for pastors to stick it out and be faithful to their calling.
In the long-term, churches will benefit.
As the apostle Paul said to the Ephesian elders, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” [so that] I . . . finish my course with joy” (Acts 20: 24, 27). -30 –
