Many people have written in recent years about the struggle smaller churches have in finding new pastors. I have done so as well in this blog. Studies have found that many seminary trained ministers are not interested in serving in smaller churches. For 14 years I served as a Resource Minister with our denomination. One of my responsibilities was to assist our churches when they needed to call a new pastor. This was always difficult when the seeking church was a smaller one.
The problem was compounded when the church was used to having a fully-funded pastor and wanted to continue doing so. The truth was that most of these fully-funded pastors were not fully-funded. They were able to serve those churches because their spouses worked and often provided the benefits, such as insurance, for their families that the church could not provide. These churches were living in a fantasy world thinking they had a fully-funded pastor when they didn't. Somehow they never connected the fact that most of these pastors left after 2-3 years for churches that did offer salary and benefit packages that would support their families. Now, as they begin seeking new pastoral leadership they find that many ministers are no longer willing to accept their fantasy.
This isn't to put these churches down. It is intended to point out the reality of the situation these churches are in. Before I retired from my position I worked with one church that had a fully-funded pastor but realized their next pastor would have to be bivocational. As one of the members explained to me, they could afford to pay a decent salary, but they could not afford the insurance or other benefits most ministers require. I appreciated their honest appraisal of their situation, and it made it easier to help them find their new pastor.
Where will smaller churches find their pastors as we continue into the 21st century? Like the church above, many of them will need to seek bivocational leadership. Some churches think that is taking a step backwards, but it is not. Bivocational ministers have proven more than capable of serving churches. I have published several books on bivocational ministry that can help the interested reader better understand what a bivocational minister can bring to the church.
Another option is to seek someone within the church to serve as pastor. This will often be a bivocational person as well. The only difference is that it is someone already well known and respected in the congregation. I had a few churches take that approach, and it worked out very well. These persons may not have the training many churches would prefer, but there are numerous ways such training and theological education can be obtained today.
A third option is to call a retired minister. I know most churches want a 35 year-old pastor with 20 years experience, but you will be making a huge mistake if you refuse to consider a retired person. A church once told me they wanted a young pastor with new ideas. I responded that many young pastors don't have new ideas. All many of them know is what they learned in seminary from professors who haven't pastored a church in 20 years. I know many older ministers who have far more new ideas about ministry than some younger ones.
Retired ministers not only have the education; they also have the experience to know how to serve a church. They've been through the battles so they know how to avoid many of them. Another benefit about calling a retired person as pastor is that most of them are not going to be looking to move in the next couple of years. They have no interest in climbing the "ministerial ladder of success" as I like to call it. This means they may remain at the church longer than some younger pastors.
Smaller churches can still find pastors if they broaden the criteria they use when seeking one. Rather than develop a rigid checklist of what you want in a pastor, be open to the person God may be sending you. God always has a person for a church. Don't miss that person by looking for something else.
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