For the past 2+ years I have had the privilege of serving as the Transitional Pastor of a great church I dearly love. I explained when I went there that it was likely that I would be there for 1 1/2 - 2 years, and my time there has exceeded that estimate. As a former denominational minister who worked with dozens of pastor search teams I knew how difficult it is for smaller churches to find pastors. We have prayed much for this search team to find the person God has prepared for the position. I applaud the search team for their dedication and hard work. They have had to overcome more than one disappointment, but they have done so trusting God to lead them to the right individual.
During this process I have seen numerous other smaller churches struggle to find pastors. Some have been looking even longer that I have served in my present position. Some wonder what is wrong with them that no one is interested in serving there. One of the dangers is that they will lower their expectations and simply take the first person who shows an interest in being their pastor. That often turns out to be a big mistake.
I've addressed the reasons in previous posts about why it's so difficult for smaller churches to find pastors and will not repeat those reasons here. Many of those reasons are related to the candidates themselves. Sometimes the reasons have more to do with the church and its expectations.
When I still worked as a Regional Minister many smaller churches still believed they needed a full-time pastor even though their church had been in decline for some time. The hope was that with a full-time pastor they could return to their former glory years. I'm afraid for many that is a false hope. I recently spoke to a member of a church of a different denomination than mine who told me their current pastor recently announced his upcoming retirement. This person told me since Covid the church is down to about 20 people attending on a regular basis, none younger than retirement age. Because of endowments and the generous giving of former members the church has a large bank account. Although he didn't say anything, that combination historically has meant that the church would seek a fully-funded pastor believing that person would rebuild their church to its former glory. These churches fail to realize that they would be better served by a bivocational minister making more money available to reach out into the community that would allow them to minister to that community and grow the church.
Of course, this brings us to another issue. Just as there are not many fully-funded pastors willing to serve smaller churches; there are not many bivocational ministers available either. Now, this is just a guess as I do not have any actual data, but I bet there are at least 20 smaller churches who need a bivocational pastor within a 50 mile radius of me and cannot find one. Now, what is wrong with this picture?
Has God messed up and not prepared people for the needs of His church, or has God's people not recognized that He has been calling them to such ministry? Personally, I am not going to blame God. I believe there are many God has called to the ministry who are afraid to step out and commit themselves to that work. They are afraid of the commitment that would be required. They are reluctant to commit to the education they would need. (BTW - You do not need a seminary degree to serve as a bivocational pastor!) What you do need is to recognize that God has His hand on you and is calling you to serve Him in this role.
I cannot call anyone to the ministry and would not try. Only God can call someone to serve as a pastor. At the same time, I can challenge you to pray about what you may have felt for some time that might be a calling to such a ministry, and I can make myself available to you if you want to talk about it. Churches need pastoral leadership. If you think God might be calling you to that role, it's time to talk to someone.
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