-Congregations Gone Wild-

Charnock · #1 08-12-2010, 05:28 PM

Congregations Gone Wild
By G. JEFFREY MacDONALD

THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show. And part of the problem, as researchers have observed, is that pastors work too much. Many of them need vacations, it’s true. But there’s a more fundamental problem that no amount of rest and relaxation can help solve: congregational pressure to forsake one’s highest calling.

The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the local people.

As a result, pastors are constantly forced to choose, as they work through congregants’ daily wish lists in their e-mail and voice mail, between paths of personal integrity and those that portend greater job security. As religion becomes a consumer experience, the clergy become more unhappy and unhealthy.

The trend toward consumer-driven religion has been gaining momentum for half a century. Consider that in 1955 only 15 percent of Americans said they no longer adhered to the faith of their childhood, according to a Gallup poll. By 2008, 44 percent had switched their religious affiliation at least once, or dropped it altogether, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found. Americans now sample, dabble and move on when a religious leader fails to satisfy for any reason.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/op...nald.html?_r=3

DAII · #2 08-12-2010, 05:34 PM

Read this earlier ... fascinating piece ...

Not sure I can place the onus just on the congregation ....

Charnock · #3 08-12-2010, 05:58 PM

From the author:

Quote:

I have faced similar pressures myself. In the early 2000s, the advisory committee of my small congregation in Massachusetts told me to keep my sermons to 10 minutes, tell funny stories and leave people feeling great about themselves. The unspoken message in such instructions is clear: give us the comforting, amusing fare we want or we’ll get our spiritual leadership from someone else.

Friends, that's just unreal.

mizpeh · #4 08-12-2010, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charnock

From the author:

Friends, that's just unreal.

They want their ears to be tickled.

geekette · #5 08-12-2010, 07:16 PM

But isn't there a happy medium somewhere? In between the 10 minute "nice thought for the day" and the 2 1/2 hour preacher's marathon? Ten minutes is not long enough to get into the topic, while 2 1/2 hours is enough to beat that dead horse three times over.

mizpeh · #6 08-12-2010, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geekette

But isn't there a happy medium somewhere? In between the 10 minute "nice thought for the day" and the 2 1/2 hour preacher's marathon? Ten minutes is not long enough to get into the topic, while 2 1/2 hours is enough to beat that dead horse three times over.

Does your pastor preach for 2 1/2 hours?

geekette · #7 08-13-2010, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Does your pastor preach for 2 1/2 hours?

No. Forty-five minutes. But in the past, I've sat under preachers who just went on and on and on and on...

The Lemon · #8 08-13-2010, 07:33 AM

Well...there is probably a little of both truth and opinion in this piece. The responsibility really rests on both the congregants and the pastore to be saved. It's ludacris to try and point fingers at one side or the other..to me that is not only immature, but ridiculous.

The pastor can't ultimately control all the actions or expectations of everyone who walks throuigh the door, and certainly, at some point in there christian walk, a person needs to grow some root and be able to withstand some storms with just them and Jesus in the ship.

Speaking about opinions, let me share mine. In my brief experience, alot of the church's I have known that have had burned out ministers had alot to do with the fact that the church was to program oriented. Everybody who was a part of the assembly was expected to live by the church calendar. There only seemed to be maybe two nights a week were something was not going on, the rest of the time was chick full of "stuff".

The end result was really all inreach, no outreach, and everything centered around the church, not Jesus, the community etc. While we would pass out little cards that claimed Hope for the Home, we had alot of leadership that had no homelife themselves!

One word that would solve all this....B A L A N C E

Pressing-On · #9 08-13-2010, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lemon

Well...there is probably a little of both truth and opinion in this piece. The responsibility really rests on both the congregants and the pastore to be saved. It's ludacris to try and point fingers at one side or the other..to me that is not only immature, but ridiculous.

The pastor can't ultimately control all the actions or expectations of everyone who walks throuigh the door, and certainly, at some point in there christian walk, a person needs to grow some root and be able to withstand some storms with just them and Jesus in the ship.

Speaking about opinions, let me share mine. In my brief experience, alot of the church's I have known that have had burned out ministers had alot to do with the fact that the church was to program oriented. Everybody who was a part of the assembly was expected to live by the church calendar. There only seemed to be maybe two nights a week were something was not going on, the rest of the time was chock full of "stuff".

The end result was really all inreach, no outreach, and everything centered around the church, not Jesus, the community etc. While we would pass out little cards that claimed Hope for the Home, we had alot of leadership that had no homelife themselves!

One word that would solve all this....B A L A N C E

Excellent post!!