Your Voice

Six reasons your pastor may consider leaving

By Thom Rainer
Churchanswers.com

It’s a trend I have not seen in my lifetime. Some [pastors] are just weeks away from making an announcement. … They are leaving or getting ready to leave. There are many reasons why, but allow me to share the top six reasons, understanding that they are not mutually exclusive.

1. Pastors are weary from the pandemic, just like everyone else. Pastors are not super humans. They miss their routines. They miss seeing people as they used to do so. They would like the world to return to normal, but they realize the old normal will not return.
2. Pastors are greatly discouraged about the fighting taking place among church members about the post-quarantine church. Gather in person or wait? Masks or no masks? Social distancing or not? Too many church members have adopted the mindset of culture and made these issues political fights. Pastors deal daily with complaints about the decisions the church makes.
3. Pastors are discouraged about losing members and attendance. For sure, it’s not all about the numbers. But imagine your own mindset if one-half or more of your friends stopped engaging with you. And pastors have already heard directly or indirectly from around one-fourth of the members that they do not plan to return at all.
4. Pastors don’t know if their churches will be able to support ministries financially in the future. In the early stages of the pandemic, giving was largely healthy. Church members stepped up. Government infusion of funds for businesses and consumers helped as well. Now, the financial future is cloudy. Can the church continue to support the ministries they need to do? Will the church need to eliminate positions? These issues weigh heavily on pastors.
5. Criticisms against pastors have increased significantly. One pastor recently shared with me the number of criticisms he receives are five times greater than the pre-pandemic era. Church members are worried. Church members are weary. And the most convenient target for their angst is their pastor.
6. The workload for pastors has increased greatly. Almost every pastor with whom we communicate expresses surprise at their level of work since the pandemic began. It really makes sense. They are trying to serve the congregation the way they have in the past, but now they have the added responsibilities that have come with the digital world. And as expected, pastoral care needs among members have increased during the pandemic as well.

Pastors are burned out, beaten up and downtrodden.

Many are about to quit.

You may be surprised to discover your pastor is among them.

________________________________________________

During this COVID-19 pandemic, we face extreme challenges that requires each church to reexamine itself concerning what God is going to do in this challenging time.

The question we have to address is: What can we do as a pastor and staff to make a difference in the community as we minister to a lot of hurting people?

I thank you in advance for the bold ministry that you are already doing. God has His hand upon your congregation. Thank you for sharing the heart of God, along with your compassion and love.

Barry Cosper
Associational Mission Strategist
Bessemer Baptist Association

Believers are to be people of the truth as the Jesus we follow literally calls Himself “truth” (John 14:6).

Ed Stetzer

A godly person — one who serves Christ and exhibits purity and integrity in his life — is not necessarily welcomed or admired by those who live differently.

Billy Graham

Learning to live faithfully in a fallen world requires the development of spiritual maturity.

Josh Wester
Chair of research in Christian ethics, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Periodically, we need to get away. In Mark 6:31, Jesus said to the disciples, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” In this great big beautiful but busy world, sometimes we need a good porch, a patch of woods or some quiet place where we can come apart … before we come apart.

Director of Missions Bill King
Tuskegee Lee Association

We [as Black pastors] are very well aware of the SBC’s past, but we are also well aware of their repentance and how they are trying to right the wrongs of their ancestors by strategically hiring African Americans to bring about unity and restoration on state and regional levels. We also know that some still have the mindset of their ancestors, but that’s not all of the leaders.

So with the ones who have the mindset of “there’s no way we will function like the ways of old,” we lock arms and become emotionally involved with each other, as well as spiritually connected.

We are not tokens, passive, nor do we tone down our blackness because God made us that way and He adores us (Rev. 7:9). Believe me, our perspectives are heard. In the midst of all this that’s going on, God’s Word will win … [has] already won. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Pastor Dewayne Rembert
Montgomery, Ala.

We can release and promote all of the best moral, ethical and theological statements we want, but when the world sees us grasping for power for ourselves instead of clinging to the cross and sacrificially loving others, it’s a clanging cymbal that contradicts our message.

Pastor Alan Cross
Petaluma, Calif.

On intercessory prayer: Believer, you have a mighty engine in your hand. Use it well, use it constantly, use it with faith, and you shall surely be a benefactor to thy brethren.

Charles Spurgeon

Love is evidence of a transformed heart. Let’s take it seriously.

Trillia Newbell

________________________________________________

Letters to the Editor

As a graduate of Gordon College and former professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (and a current faculty member at Samford University in Alabama), I’m very happy to see the recent piece about A.J. Gordon in The Alabama Baptist. What a wonderful legacy!

Roy Ciampa
Birmingham, Ala.

I read and re-read the article, “violence in Nigeria,” in the Sept. 3 issue. As a Christian, I pray for loved ones, the physical needs of others, our country and military, etc. I asked myself, “how often do I pray fervently or with a great intensity for missionaries?”

Acts 12:5 tells us that while Peter was in prison, he was prayed for fervently. It is my prayer that I will pray without ceasing, not only for the missionaries in Nigeria but for all missionaries around the world.

Sue Rash
Cairo, Georgia

________________________________________________

From the Twitterverse

@RMattBoyd
It’s His power and His ministry, and I cannot save the world but carry the responsibility to point to the One that can. #churchplanting

@PastorJFC
Not everyone who begins with you finishes with you. Attitude: Be thankful for the season you had with them and wish them well as they move forward.

@timkellernyc
If I have the smile of God, all other frowns are inconsequential.

@sygarte
I was living under water for decades, holding my breath, seeing poorly, lost and confused. Then a hand entered the water from above. I grasped it, and Jesus pulled me up into the air and light — a world of beauty and joy! I took a deep breath and shouted “hallelujah.”

@john316marshall
We like long-term planning, but God gives us only day-by-day, often second-by-second, leadership. We live in a spotlight, not a floodlight. I struggle in this. If I depicted an image of me trying to wait on Jesus, I would be squirming in a chair and constantly checking my watch.

@jrwilliams740
Rare is the person who will do what is right no matter what it might cost them.

@jaredcwilson
2020 is the mineral spirits to the varnish of our ideal churches and dream ministries. This is a harsh good. As it shatters our idealism and strangles our self-sufficiency, 2020 is showing us what we’re really working with … and for.

@TinaBoesch
The most unforgettable people, the best colleagues and leaders, are the ones who open doors for others, the ones who see potential and call it out, the ones who aren’t threatened by creativity but cultivate and encourage it, the ones who lift up other voices.

@EdLitton
Prayer is not God’s suggestion box. He needs not my instructions or ideas. I need to submit to His infinite wisdom, power and might.

@DustinBenge
Every sermon of every faithful man should be preached with only one audience member in mind: God.