Are more Preachers Leaving the Ministry???
 

I talked to A Pastors wife last weekend who told me they have several friends amongst their circle that just cannot take the stress of pastoring anymore and the effects its having on their families. she said that many are wondering if it's worth the risk.

in fact, she went on to tell me that some of her friends who pastor are going back to college to get secular degrees and getting out of pastoring all together.

I am thinking that is going to be a growing trend in the years to come



your thoughts

Are your friends out there in California?

I suspect that in certain places like Cali and even Louisiana and a few other places where Apostolics have reached a saturation point, it may be there are simply too many competing for too few resources. unless they are in places like North Dakota where there are very few Pentecostals, it could be very hard to compete.

I also think that there are some who are suffering the effects of being out of their calling. It takes a special calling to pastor - I know I do not speak from experience, in the regards - I have not pastored, but I have observed men of God who have pastored in difficult situations and have thrived, because that is what they were called to do. I have also observed men of God who pastored in situations and were not successful. In my opinion, I believe they were out of their calling. The pieces of the puzzle just did not fit correctly. There are many callings and gifts. Many people, when they feel the call, will try to pastor, because that is what is traditionally thought of as a result of a call. I would like to hear some who are more experienced than I speak to this.

what do you mean by reaching the saturation point ?

competing for few resources ?

i dont know what the stats are but i can tell you, there have been many people i know that have left the ministry and are working secular now, these are just people i know, i dont know many honest preachers that make any where near the money i make, but i am sure there are some, lol,dt:hypercoffee

Stress is a monster we all face. I too know some that are leaving the ministry. I am sure there is always the opportunity to do something else but sometimes we have to stop and start delegating authority to others and making special time for other things...I think some of the problem is balance...peer pressure...bigger and better...and dealing with people is not the easiest thing in the world.

that's true and the reason for this is, in the UPC if you are not pastor,you are considered "Less than". other callings are only a stepping stone to becoming a pastor. so, many take on a calling that is not what was intended for them.

I agree with you I think the "machine" has helped create this mistake that many make.

Interesting...

Rob or Fleece the Saints for a few years of college only to leave them when your done???

This is an example of how ministers feel like people "owe" them something...

All I can say is "AMEN" and I am outta here!!! :hypercoffee:hypercoffee


sits by and quietly watches this one!


seriously I have to go in a bit and get kids, I might chime in when I get back:driving

sometimes there is the mega church that seems to put pressure on smaller churches...and many pastors get discouraged that they do not have what mega churches offer...that even happens on the field...some missionaries have "benifts" to offer their followers while other do not.

bro blub, your words ring true, both comments, seen it now for 38 years, dt:hypercoffee

It happens....


Oh wait I said I am leaving didnt I?? :driving

in some areas of California and Louisiana, Apostolic churches are very close to each other, and the resources are PEOPLE.

I know in some places, there is no real growth because there are 30 Apostolic churches all trying to win people from a very small pool.


you get rid of 25 of them and the 5 left would all be large dynamic churchs. as it is, you have 30 that cant win enough people to support a pastor hardly.

and on the flip, the Mega churches are under pressure to sustain their huge ministries or "empires " in some cases.

If you notice, a lot of marriages that are splitting up are happening from the mega ministries

a lot of truth in this. a pastor sometimes is the only really "recognized" calling. Evagelists have some place but a lot of times, they get USED and ABUSED.

A pastor living on 80k a year thinks nothing of paying an evangelist $500 bucks a week and thinking he has done a good job.

and lets not talk about a guy with a call on his life that really is a teacher just doesnt feel he should be a pastor.

that might be one aspect of it Ferd but I'm talking about the stress of trying to maintain a ministry outside of problem of church hopping which has always been

This is a good thread topic Thaddeus!

Where to start.......hmmmm....well, I don't know if I could say many ministers are choosing to get out of ministry. However, I do know many who are choosing not to enter conventional traditional ministry opportunities.

I can't say as I blame them.

Why enter something with one hand tied behind your back by a rustic religious system?

Why enter traditional ministry when you know your family will suffer and sacrifice because parishoners expect it of ministry, but have no intention of sacrificing anything themselves?

Why enter traditional ministry when you are considered young at age forty, and have no voice?

Many men and women have counted the costs, and decided it's just not worth the time and effort. Instead, they choose to minister through house or internet churches. Or they involve themselves in a comfortable established megachurch in order to diminish the opportunity for failure.

Why are people always to blame Thad??

If there is consistant church hopping the problem isn't always with Sheep??

But I am sure to be called on the carpet for this..I'm sure...

The problem I think lies in the Culture pentecost has created...

The truth is ..The Shout never lasts... the Yells & Screams of a Red-Faced preacher is only service oriented...

Unless people are taught the principles and not just the basics folks move on..

Since many have done away with the 5 fold ministry doesn´t leave much an choice for some...In some places I have visited it is hard to find an evangelist according to the pastors...

part of the problem might be the simple fact that a modern "Pastor" is an un-Biblical job that no human can possibly fit all by themself...

BTW, unless God smacks me upside the head, there is no way on God's green earth I would ever do what I did again. I am thankful for what God has done, but it has taken an immeasurable toll on my wife's health and our finances.

I seriously doubt I will ever pastor again if I ever resign the church I planted.
I just don't have the energy. I have been running, running, running with far too little rest for way too long.

I would plant myself somewhere and assist someone else.

BTW, I hope I don't sound whiney, I am just being real.

true also....

wow surprises never cease to exist! PP complimenting my thread??

can you clarify and/or qualify some of your statments?

how do you define traditional conventional ministry & a rustic religious system ? are you specifially talking about UPC ?

HOT POTATO!

True, VERY true words...but the kind that will get you in hot water.

you think people are easy to deal with in our times randy ?

you ought to try pastoring for a while then come back and post about it

actually, the fact that church-hopping is a possibility is the issue here...

See, when the Apostles set up the church, the Bishop kept the finances of the Church (read: the Body of Christ) in a city, that's it... He made sure that the money got collected to help the poor, etc...

the meetings were held in various houses, you didn't have to go to every meeting, and there was no rule that you had to agree with absolutely everything that everyone else in the city believed in order to be saved...

The issue with being a pastor in the modern church is that there are 100 churches in every city, and that isn't how it is suppose to be... PLUS the simple fact is that a bishop shouldn't need to pastor, too, although the callings can overlap... There is nothing in the Bible that says they have to...

I have pastored... and cleaned the bathrooms... People aren't easy to deal that is why change at times is necessary...but do most change? or attempt to?

I wonder if they're not there or if the pastors just don't acknowledge them.

Yea and amen!

Understand. :nod

Yep!

I thought I was rather specific, but oh well.

No I am not speaking specifically about the UPC. I am speaking about an American mindset, perhaps advertised by the church, that a minister must be a man of complete and utter self-denial - to the detriment of his income, health, and family.

There ARE other ways to minister than simply being voted in or "taking" a church. Many young men are choosing to walk alternative paths of Christian service.

As in???

Writing books, conference speaking, skeletal fellowships across denominational barriers, chairing community action groups that support the needy, Christian counseling services, internet based ministries....


need I go on?

Nobody said People were easy...but mass transit means there is a problem somewhere... whether it's leadership...family or whatever... if folks are coming and going there is a problem somewhere...

What I have learned in Pastoring the folks we win are the folks we keep... the folks others have won and came to visit for short while are just that ... short timers... most move on... some nest and rest... some snort and chuckle... and some get on down the road...

all of this is hogwash and you KNOW it... unless your spittin' screamin' and red faced and shallowed breath you ain't got a ministry!! come PP git wit the program!!




:driving

In my case, I work as a helper to my pastor in what ever roll is needed. I am not the pastor, I dont want his job, but that doesnt deminsh my roll, or my calling.

to some however, that means i am not a minister. they are completely wrong.