The Schaeffer Institute recently reported that more than 1,700 ministers leave the ministry every month. Fifty percent of those who remain feel so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but they have no other way to make a living.
That’s why once a month I conduct a mentoring retreat for preachers. It’s called, “A Time of Refreshing” and is designed to reinvigorate ministers for their calling. I limit the retreat to eight to encourage interaction and allow time for some personal dialogue. We meet for 3 ½ days and talk about how to cope with the many pressures of ministry.
Most of our retreats are attended by those who lead churches of fewer than 250 people. (Half of America’s churches have fewer than 75 people attending on Sunday.) Have you ever questioned what a preacher in a small church does all day long? Ever wondered why so many preachers complain about being busy and stressed? After all, a preacher only works one day a week, doesn’t he?
I recently received an email from a preacher who is overwhelmed because he can’t find time to do everything he’s expected to do. His leaders are discouraged because church attendance has stagnated around 200 for the past several years. In his frustration, the preacher listed the assignments that were on his plate for this week and asked me for guidance.
This minister didn’t include: attending all regular worship services, Bible studies, board meetings and class meetings. He didn’t mention forty-five minute discussions with people who drop by the office unexpectedly and say, “I just need five minutes of your time.” He didn’t list answering phone calls from people who have questions about the time of the JOY Class meeting. Nothing is said about the church member who asks, “Would you mind stopping in at the hospital and visiting my uncle who is dying of cancer?” or the member who asks for a letter of recommendation for his resume…and he needs it tomorrow. The emergency at the hospital at midnight tonight or the unexpected funeral at the end of the week aren’t on the list either.
What’s the solution? I hope our retreats help some. And admittedly, preachers need to learn to delegate more. But the primary solution begins with the church elders or lay leaders. The main reason I was able to stay in the same church for forty years is I was blessed with elders who said, “We’re going to hire a young minister who will grow with us…and we’re going to make him successful.” Good leaders look for ways to keep their preacher focused on his calling and relieve his increasing stress.
I remember approaching our elders as a young minister and saying, “Guys, I’m not doing very well right now. I’m not keeping up.” They could have responded with sarcasm, “So, you’re finding out what it’s like to work? We’ve all got pressures on our job too.”
But instead our elders rallied to my side and said, “We’re expecting too much of our preacher. Let’s help him.” They set up a schedule to share in hospital calling. They made specific recommendations that I quit all marital counseling and stop going to class meetings. Then they defended me behind my back when someone questioned my absence. Because those mature elders shored up my weaknesses and reinforced my strengths I was able to survive and advance.
Unless good leaders take the necessary steps to organize and help out, preachers will remain frustrated with their inability to get everything done and churches will remain stagnate around 200 or less in attendance. Every three or four years the church will change ministers and hope that the next guy will have what it takes.
You can make a difference. Encourage and thank your minister. Volunteer your time to relieve some of his stress. Pray for him and his family. Urge your church’s elders to be supportive and look for ways to ease the pressures of ministry. The healthy church is not a pyramid with one guy at the top meeting everyone’s needs. It’s a circle where people are trained to minister to one another.
God “…gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
