27 / 34
Christian Counseling Connection
27
PASTORAL CARE
piece rang true: “If a pastor preaches over 12 min-
utes, he is a windbag; if his sermon is short, he came
unprepared; if he visits church members in their
homes, he is nosey; if he doesn’t, he is a snob and
doesn’t care. If he is young, he is not experienced; if
he is old, he should retire. If he lives, the pastor at
the church down the street is a better preacher and
counselor than he is; if he dies, there was nobody
like him and his equal will never be seen again.”
You might laugh a bit at that little piece of reali-
ty, but the truth is that pastors and their families are
at great risk. In fact, years ago I wrote a book with
Neil Wiseman called
Pastors at Risk
. Later, we wrote a
sequel to that book titled,
Pastors at Greater Risk
. If I
was writing a third, I would title it,
Pastors in Extreme
Danger
. This might sound strange to many of you
who think your friendly neighborhood pastor only
works a few hours a week. Not so! Let me offer some
perspective.
Ministry Fallout
It is difficult to confirm numbers anymore but, for
years now, it has been reported that nearly 1,500
pastors leave the ministry each month due to the
unique pressures related to their jobs. You might also
remember there are over 300,000 churches in the
United States alone… more than one million in full-
time or part-time Christian service. These numbers
represent a lot of people… so why do so many opt
out of a profession that began with a unique call
from God?
The list is rather lengthy but, for starters, let us
consider a resistance to leadership. I am sure more
books have been written on leadership in the last few
years than on any other subject. It seems “those in
the know” trace everything back to a pastor’s ability
to lead. They are probably right because surveys
indicate, from both the layman’s perspective and the
pastor’s, the lack of effective leadership seems to be
one of the main reasons for pastoral resignations. The
pastor is either not equipped to lead or the congrega-
tion is not willing to be led.
Okay, so add to that fact some very difficult,
unrealistic expectations congregations might have for
their pastors, or pastors for themselves. Additionally,
there is the “change” factor. Congregations are slow
to change, but the modern-day pastor is determined
to make changes… so a battle begins. Who wins?
Most often it is the congregation or “power base”
in a church. There is the struggle for numbers. Yes,
people do judge a pastor’s success by the growth of
those who attend the services… the only problem
here is that most churches are not growing (possibly
as high as 75%). Pastors like to see progress. If they
don’t, they are often discouraged or no longer try.
Beyond these factors, there are also financial consid-