Last week I had to laugh at an email I received. Our Regional Minister sent an email to all of his pastors reminding them of a pastor event being sponsored by our Region. The speaker was going to talk about "How to Stay in Your Church for Thirty Years." My first thought was, "I'm 75 years old. Maybe I should go and see if he knows something I don't know!"
All joking aside, regular readers of this blog know that I am a big advocate of long-term pastorates. One major reason most of our churches struggle today is because the average pastoral tenure is around four years. Research has found that the average pastor's best ministry doesn't begin until he has been at a church for 3-11 years. The smaller the church, the more frequent the pastoral turnover has been, the longer it takes. For me, when I went to Hebron, it took 7 years before I earned the trust of the congregation enough that I was allowed to provide leadership. Do you see the problem with an average of 4 year pastorates?
I spent 20 years serving that rural church as their bivocational pastor. During that time we did things that churches that size shouldn't be able to do. We made mistakes, but we also enjoyed some wonderful times in ministry. When I left there to join the staff in our Region I joked that my greatest fear was that they would now learn that they really hadn't needed me for years. I've told people that my greatest contribution to their success was that I hung around. That stability gave them the confidence to take risks and do ministry.
Let me be very blunt. I do not believe God is so confused that He does not know where His ministers are supposed to serve. How many times have you heard a pastor say, "God has called me to this place," and four years (or less) later announce that "God has called me to accept a call to ________ church." Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a very confused God. Does God call ministers to serve elsewhere at times? Yes, He does, but for some pastors their ministries are like revolving doors.
Too many ministers never unpack all their boxes. They leave things boxed up because they know they're going to be leaving soon anyway. As a judicatory minister I had pastors call me before their first anniversary in their church asking for my assistance in helping them move. This was not due to problems in the church. They simply wanted to move on to a larger church. I never helped any of them move to another church.
A book that greatly influenced my ministry was The Heart of a Great Pastor by H. B. London, Jr. and Neil Wiseman. I had the privilege of meeting H. B. at a leadership conference where we were both speaking after the book came out. One of the things I've heard H. B. say is if you are serving in a great church it is because someone stayed there to make it a great church, and if you are not serving in a great church perhaps God has called you there for such a time as this to stay and make it a great church. I believe there is a lot of truth in that.
Many pastors will retire after 30 years in ministry, look back and realize they never had a 30-year ministry, they had ten 3-year ministries, none of which accomplished much. What a sad realization that will be. We often hear, bloom where you are planted. I think this is good advice for those of us called to ministry.
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