“There is a shortage of pastors in the church right now.” “Churches are in desperate need of pastors.” I have seen those two statements on Twitter an awful lot lately, and of course a lot has happened in the world over the last three years to get where we are now. Honestly, the storm was happening in the church and the way they “do business” long before the pandemic came along. I believe that the pandemic brought the true church to light, both good and bad. As a pastor of a small church the pandemic cut our attendance in half and the ones who “came back” were left wondering ~sometimes out loud~ “where is everyone else?”. Now, this conversation is a hard one to have amongst the brethren because the ones who came back cannot understand why their “beloved church members” did not. I would just nod and respond: “I don’t know why. I’m sorry that you’re hurting over this.” Right now you may be asking: “Scott, what does this have to do with pastoral shortages?” Good question my good sir or ma’am! Here is why: Churches blamed their pastors for church members who did not come back over something they had no control over - and then they fired them or the pastor resigned in hurt and frustration.
We were expected to chase down “grown folks” who claimed to be Christians and cajole or actually beg them to come back to a place they should want to be at anyway because they CLAIM TO BE A CHRISTIAN! See the insanity of that?
“There is a shortage of pastors in the church right now.” Well DUH. Who helped create the shortage? Don’t want to go there do you? How about some research on that Lifeway. No, seriously, I’d like to know.
Anyway, like I was saying, there is a shortage of pastors right now and it seems that it isn’t going to change for the better. What I see and hear whether in person conversation or over social media is that churches are still expecting Superman on 30K a year, down from 45K pre-pandemic. Nothing has really changed, especially for pastor wives who are expected to do “whatever” ministry for free. My wife was asked in an interview one time: “Do you play the piano or have experience directing a choir?”
My wife actually dislikes that I write about this subject matter, I of course disagree (love you HB) - if church search committees are afraid of being honest and if pastors are afraid of being honest then you/we get what we deserve.
When I tell a committee that this also about our family and whether or not your church would be a good fit for us I get the “deer in a headlight” stare in return. It’s like there was/is no consideration about me or my family and I think that search committees need to understand that it is also about the pastor and his family.
I have a friend right now who is in the process of leaving one church for another. Do you know what really bothers me about the process? Is that we have to keep it all under wraps until your “voted in” by the new church. Why all the secrecy? If The Lord is calling the pastor to another place then shouldn’t his current congregation and him rejoice and in turn trust The Lord to bring who they need? I know that sadness will be involved, I totally get it. The current way it’s done just feels and looks wrong to me, like a cloak of deception. What if your not voted in and your current church gets wind of you wanting to leave?… Awkward…
“How are you going to grow the church?” is a question that is always asked to a pastoral candidate. Do I really need to point out what is wrong with this question? My response wants to be: “Well, I cannot save anyone and since the church is made up of born again believers It’s God’s job to grow His church.” I mean, I could suggest driving around town to all the local competi… I mean churches and we could devise a really good strategy about how to ste… I mean “woo” them over to us. But that would be deceptive. Like leaving one church for another in secret, it’s okay until it’s not okay and yet everyone is afraid to talk about this subject matter. “How are you going to grow the church?” is a pretty unfair question but when your theology is man-centered the question makes sense. I’m sure some seasoned veteran out there who stumbles across this will get angry with this assessment because you know, he’s written books and stuff.
Here’s one a pastor should ask: “Will you be requiring mandatory church attendance from the congregation in a show of support for my calling?” again, deer in the headlights. You see, we have all these crazy unrealistic expectations for our pastors but none for the congregation. Yes, I know, it’s crazy to expect Christians to go to church these days. But yet, the congregation can get mad at the pastor for the slightest little thing and it’s okay. We’ve lost respect for the pastor. No wonder we have shortages. Who wants to endure a man-centered environment for X amount of years for little pay only to be chewed up and spit out by people who believe Philippians 4:13 means you can headbutt a hornets nest and not get stung.
“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” - Hebrews 13:17
I could clearly write more but I think you get the idea. If you need a pastor then love and respect him and his family. Treat them well and make sure there needs are financially met. If you are a small church who cannot afford a full time pastor then be honest about that in the interview. It’s okay to be honest. Pastor, be honest about who you are and what your family needs. It’s okay to be honest.
Unless, we’re all still wearing masks.