A lot has been said and written about the latest stats from Barna about pastors. According to Barna, 38% of pastors have thought about leaving the ministry.
The reasons for this are many: tensions over covid and politics, people leaving their churches, exhaustion.
While there isn’t a way to take away all of the issues facing pastors, there are some things pastors can do to help their longevity in ministry:
1. Know that ministry is hard work. Every job is hard. Whether you are a pastor, electrician, engineer, or barista. Life and work are demanding, and ministry is no different. You can’t be naive about this. Too many pastors have rose-colored glasses about putting out a church sign and just expecting people to show up, and the people who show up will be bought in, not messy, and without difficulty. Yet, the leader and the people who walk through the door are broken and have needs and stories they are dealing with. The post-covid world we find ourselves in is incredibly divided and will take a different kind of leader to lead a church.
2. Make sure you are sleeping & eating well. There is a direct connection between how you eat, how you sleep, and the level of energy you have. Handling your energy is a stewardship issue. Leaders have a lot of meetings over meals and drink a lot of coffee or energy drinks. They stay up too late watching TV or surfing social media instead of sleeping, taking a sabbath, or doing something recharging and refreshing.
3. Have an outlet. Whenever I get tired, I am not taking my retreat day, hanging out with friends, or doing fun things. Leaders and pastors are notorious for being bad friends, not having hobbies or doing fun things. You will start thinking about quitting, not being thankful, and begrudgingly attending meetings or counseling people. Get outside, take a break, and slow down.
4. Ministry idols. If pastors are honest, they struggle with an idol of ministry. In our hearts, many pastors work because they want to have a larger church, a larger platform, to be known, and to change people through their sermons. Not all of these are wrong, but the motives often are. You will run out of steam if you have an idol. Be honest with someone, have someone ask you hard questions, and hold you accountable.
5. Lead from a place of burden. Leaders are idea machines. We read books, attend conferences, listen to podcasts, and look for the latest trend, but those are ideas, not visions. It is easy to confuse the two. A vision, what drives you, comes from a burden. For any leader, ask about their burden if you want to know their vision. It would be best if you kept that in the forefront. You must keep yourself and your church focused on why you exist as a church and maintain that passion in you white-hot.
Deal with your emotions. One thing I was unprepared for was how emotionally tiring ministry and leadership can be. It can be hard to walk with people who get a divorce, get fired, wreck their lives, funerals, and miscarriages. This can shatter your heart. It would help if you learned to deal with the emotional ride that pastoring is. If you don’t, you will become a statistic. To help with that, deepen some friendships, see a counselor, and learn how to handle your story and the stories of those you are ministering to.
