Long Term Pastor Obstacles

As I approach the anniversary (August 1)       to begin my 9th year of ministry serving as the Lead Pastor of North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene I realize that truly I have become a long term pastor. 

What are 5 common obstacles that long term pastors face in their church? What ones might you suggest?

Complacency

It is far too easy to be in the same work for a long time and just go through the motions but being in the pastorate, that is not a good thing at all because so many depend on you. Some get so used to doing the same thing week after week that they start to rely on routine and not diligence and also they forget that they are dependent upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Whom is their Teacher. There are two extremes for pastors as with any job; slothfulness or laziness and the workaholic. Both are not good. I see far more workaholic pastors than lazy ones but I have also seen some of my own material on the Internet being posted on other writer’s blogs and then my name taken out and theirs put on it and the same materials I wrote for other websites became sermons for other pastors. I don’t notice a lot of these; they are usually brought to my attention, but a pastor that steals other men’s work is one that is seriously challenged because he is not taking the time to study for himself and all pastors are commanded to do the hard work and study to show themselves approved, not by men, but before God (2 Tim 2:15).

 If a pastor is simply going through the motions, then something is seriously wrong. He either needs a break, a sabbatical, or he is not actually called into the pastorate. I know how tempting it is to try and steal other pastor’s sermon material but the problem with that is that stealing is breaking the law; it is sin. It also takes away the benefit of the pastor studying the Bible for himself so that he might learn more of the Word, thereby denying his growing in the grace and knowledge of God.

Burn Out

The vast majority of pastors are struggling with burnout because they’re on call 24/7 and do funerals, grief counseling, marital counseling, perform marriages, attend wedding rehearsals, do Hospice and hospital visits, and attend multiple meetings. According to Pew Research (in 2014), 90% of the pastors feel inadequately trained and still spend between 55-70 hours per week at a job that pays the second lowest of all those with professional degrees.

 I think that’s why pastors need to take regular, consistent vacations to recharge, refresh, and rejuvenate and spend some quality time with their families. Their first ministry is not with the church but with their families because if their family breaks down, so too can the ministry. The pastor and his family are the ones more frequently under satanic attack and knowing that most churches have tares mixed in with the wheat, these attacks can come from people within the church.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

This is certainly true in a lot of things but perhaps no more so than in the pastorate. Week after week the congregants hear the same pastor over and over again. With familiarity comes increased criticism and when the criticism reaches family members, it can really stress out the pastor and his family. I heard of one lady who came up to the pastor’s wife and ask her “Why aren’t you in the choir? Are pastor’s children supposed to act that way? How much does your husband make? What’s it like not having to work?” 

These are cutting questions. My wife is a retired teacher and to ask her the question “What do you do all summer” is rather insulting. When she was teaching, she had to keep up her teaching certificate by taking Summer classes every once in a while, she also served on a volunteer committee, she attended every program our daughter was in and then to insinuate that she doesn’t do anything is sort of a slap in the face. This same lady said “Here are my three reasons that I wished I was a teacher; June, July, and August” and this from a lady that doesn’t work and has no children at home and her husband supports her. That’s hard to take.

Criticism/Rejection

Most pastors hear at least a few negative things every week or so. Things like “the music is too loud, the music is not loud enough (that’s a lose-lose situation), the sermons are too long, the sermons are too short, the sermons are too shallow, the sermons are too deep, you talk too much, you don’t talk enough, you talk too much about money, you don’t talk enough about money” and so on. On the same day you can hear a complaint about the music being too loud and the music being too soft. Who is right? What can a pastor do to please someone who says it’s too loud or another who says it’s not loud enough and the other criticisms that get leveled at them?

 Most of these criticisms have no easy solution or no solution at all. The sound technician or worship leaders are volunteers. It’s not enough to have thick skin and does anyone really want a pastor with thick skin? . Others might say, “Have you heard the preacher down the street preach? I think we’re leaving” and “My needs are not being met.” They forget that it’s not what they get out of a service but it’s what they should contribute to it, besides, they are there to worship God and grow in grace and knowledge. It’s not all about them.

Betrayal

It was reported that one of the most frequent and painful of all occurrences for long term pastors is that they are betrayed by a trusted church member and a trusted, longtime friend. Four in ten report a conflict with at least one church member; 85% of pastors have dealt with conflict and had agreements broken by church boards or staff at the church behind their backs; and seven in ten don’t have at least one close friend. [1] This can be a very lonely place to be. 

With the average salary and compensation package being from between $35,000 to $40,000, it is no wonder that half of all pastors that begin their career will quit their profession within five years. The average pastor stays at any one church about three to four years and by the fifth year, half are gone forever. There are not many lonelier places than to be the pastor and his family and have almost the entire church set against you.

Conclusion

The late “leader guru,” Peter Drucker identified the four hardest jobs in America: The President of the United States; a university president; a CEO at a hospital; and a pastor, and these are not necessarily given in the order of difficulty. The long term pastor faces frustrations, betrayal, weariness, loneliness, disappointments, burnout, depression, marital conflict, criticism, and even contempt. It shouldn’t surprise us at all that there are so many obstacles for long term pastors and one of the greatest obstacles is even surviving to be a pastor long enough to be considered a long term one.

Resource: [1] The Secret Pain of Pastors.

Philip Wager. Church Leaders.com. Website. Accessed, June 5th, 2015. http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/167379-philip-wagner-secret-pain-of-pastors.html/3