This was my most popular blog post of 2019 according to the number of people who read it. I thought it might deserve repeating.
A major challenge faced by bivocational ministers is trying to meet the expectations of the congregation. Most churches have a job description for the pastor, and most pastors do not get into trouble because they do not meet fulfill that job description. They get in trouble when they do not meet the unwritten job descriptions that exist in every church. If a church has 50 people there may be 50 different expectations placed on the pastor. (I often say that in many churches there is at least one person with schizophrenic tendencies so there may be 51 different expectations. I'm only partially joking when I say that!)
Many churches are now transitioning from having a fully-funded pastor to a bivocational pastor. Such transitions often fail because of unrealistic expectations placed on the pastor. While the church may be paying a bivocational salary some within the congregation still have the expectations they had when their pastor was fully-funded, which may not have been realistic even then.
Some unrealistic expectations that some churches have for their bivocational pastor may include expecting him or her to run to the hospital or home every time someone gets sick. If the pastor has an outside job he or she may not be available to dash to the hospital. When I was pastoring our church we used an SBC program called the Deacon Family Ministry plan which assigned every family in our church to one of our deacons. That deacon became the primary contact person for those families. I was called in more critical situations, but often our deacons would be called and would visit people long before I was able to due to my work schedule.
This is in line with something I've long advocated. We have to get away from a pastoral care model to a congregational care model in our churches. This is a more biblical understanding of how we are to care for one another (Eph. 4). It requires training of both the leaders and the congregation, but when it is done right it works very well, and even more so in bivocational churches.
A second unrealistic expectation is requiring the pastor to speak two or three times a week. Many bivocational churches still expect their pastor to preach Sunday morning, Sunday evening and at a mid-week service. Those evening services may not have but 4-5 people show up, but because they were well attended in the 1950s the church still expects it. That is seldom a good use of the pastor's time. Not only does he or she have to speak each of those times, but each of those messages requires preparation time which may be 5-10 hours each. If lay people cannot lead the Sunday evening and mid-week service then it may be time to give them a proper burial. Again, when I was pastoring I preached Sunday morning and evening but refused a mid-week service.
A third unrealistic expectation is refusing to give the pastor more than a week or two of vacation each year. I served as a bivocational pastor for 20 years. It's hard work that takes a lot out of the minister and his or her family. I always advocated that a church should give their pastor four weeks vacation right from the beginning. Most churches will give two weeks and pay a supply preacher $150.00 or less while the pastor is gone. Giving the pastor two more weeks will cost the church $300.00 or less. That is a minimal cost to the church but provides the pastor and family a huge blessing. Most churches budget X amount of dollars a year for the pastor's salary, so does it really matter whether that includes the pastor being there 48 weeks or 50 weeks? If a church cannot afford $300.00 to bless their pastor in this way it probably needs to decide if it is viable that it remains open.
While I'm upsetting people I might as well go all the way! Give your bivocational pastor a three-month paid sabbatical every seven years. (I just heard jaws hit the floor.) I made this statement in a workshop I was leading a few years ago and an older woman spoke up and said that they all worked for a living and didn't get three months off with pay. I responded that none of them were on-call 24/7/365 and responsible for the eternal souls of those they served either. (She left the workshop.)
That paid sabbatical may be the best investment you will make in your church. I am convinced many pastors leave after 5-7 years, not because they feel led to, but because they are just tired. They resign from the church, rest for awhile, and then begin to look for another place in which to serve. If they had that sabbatical they could refresh themselves and their families and then return back to a church that had loved on them in this way. Virtually every study shows that growing, healthy churches are led by long-term pastors, and this may be a way to keep your pastor for a long time. I can assure you, if you expect your bivocational pastor to just keep plugging away he or she will eventually wear out and have to leave just to protect themselves.
I encourage bivocational churches to invite someone such as a DS, a judicatory leader or a consultant to lead a discussion on how a congregation and bivocational pastor can set some realistic expectation for each other. It may be one of the healthiest things your church can do.
Showing posts with label Sabbatical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabbatical. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Thursday, August 9, 2018
You are replaceable
Years ago I worked third shift on a factory assembly line. One night the foreman on our end of the line was telling me how difficult the job was on him. He was under a lot of stress, couldn't sleep and wasn't sure what to do.
I explained to him that if he went down some night someone would put him in a chair, shove the chair next to the wall and call the in-plant ambulance to take him to the hospital. The assembly line would not stop running, no one would stop working and if he wasn't able to return to work soon he would be replaced within a week.
The next night that was exactly what happened to him. Everything I said occurred. Fortunately, there was nothing seriously wrong with him and he returned to work the following evening.
Many pastors work like they are indispensable. They put in too many hours each week. They seldom, if ever, take vacations. They have no hobbies, no outside interests. They sacrifice their families and their health in a misguided belief that they are too important to the church, and to God, for them to do anything but their pastoral duties. If you go to the cemetery you will find many indispensable people buried there. Somehow the world seems to manage just fine without them.
I once told a pastor that I felt he was probably dealing with clinical depression. I encouraged him to see his doctor for a checkup and diagnosis. I asked him how often he went on vacation, and he just looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. After talking to him for a few minutes and realizing I was getting nowhere I asked if I could tell his wife what I just said to him. He agreed, and I called her into the conversation. As I began to repeat myself tears streamed down her face confirming everything I suspected. That was a few years ago, and I do not believe he had done anything I suggested.
Why do we do this to ourselves? I served a church for 20 years, but they had many pastors prior to my going there, and if the Lord tarries, they will have many more after me. I'm not indispensable to that church. No pastor is called to sacrifice his or her family and health to serve in ministry. We are called to a place for a period of time to do the best job we can until the Lord moves us to another work. If we burn ourselves out we will be of no value to our ministries or the Lord.
Let me encourage you to do some things to help maintain balance in your life.
I explained to him that if he went down some night someone would put him in a chair, shove the chair next to the wall and call the in-plant ambulance to take him to the hospital. The assembly line would not stop running, no one would stop working and if he wasn't able to return to work soon he would be replaced within a week.
The next night that was exactly what happened to him. Everything I said occurred. Fortunately, there was nothing seriously wrong with him and he returned to work the following evening.
Many pastors work like they are indispensable. They put in too many hours each week. They seldom, if ever, take vacations. They have no hobbies, no outside interests. They sacrifice their families and their health in a misguided belief that they are too important to the church, and to God, for them to do anything but their pastoral duties. If you go to the cemetery you will find many indispensable people buried there. Somehow the world seems to manage just fine without them.
I once told a pastor that I felt he was probably dealing with clinical depression. I encouraged him to see his doctor for a checkup and diagnosis. I asked him how often he went on vacation, and he just looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. After talking to him for a few minutes and realizing I was getting nowhere I asked if I could tell his wife what I just said to him. He agreed, and I called her into the conversation. As I began to repeat myself tears streamed down her face confirming everything I suspected. That was a few years ago, and I do not believe he had done anything I suggested.
Why do we do this to ourselves? I served a church for 20 years, but they had many pastors prior to my going there, and if the Lord tarries, they will have many more after me. I'm not indispensable to that church. No pastor is called to sacrifice his or her family and health to serve in ministry. We are called to a place for a period of time to do the best job we can until the Lord moves us to another work. If we burn ourselves out we will be of no value to our ministries or the Lord.
Let me encourage you to do some things to help maintain balance in your life.
- Take your vacations. If you only get two weeks begin to advocate for four weeks. You and your family need that time away.
- Take your days off. Let the church know what those days are and protect them.
- Develop interests outside the ministry. Start a hobby. Join a civic organization. Take a course at a community college. Try different things until you find something you like.
- Build relationships with people outside the church. This might be in conjunction with your hobby or it might not. Get outside the holy huddle.
- If your church doesn't offer a sabbatical, begin to talk to them about doing so.
- Establish a date night with your spouse and do not let anything interfere.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Advocating for the needs of bivocational pastors
Seldom does a week go by that I do not receive a call from a pastor who's struggling and considering leaving the ministry. Many of these pastors are bivocational, but some are fully-funded. The two things they all share in common is a general frustration with ministry and weariness. Some are contemplating leaving the ministry entirely because of the frustrations. Others wonder if they just need to find a different church to serve. These are not easy, simple questions to answer, and they are not questions I can answer for them either. Such calls require me to put on my coaching cap and help them find the answers for themselves.
A lot of the frustration often centers around the limited time they have for themselves and their families. Others in the church can go to a ball game on Sunday or to the beach, but they are expected to be at church. They understand that expectation, but they also know their family needs some time to do things as well. Being a pastor really limits what one can do on the weekends, and if that pastor is bivocational there's not a lot of opportunities to do things during the week either. Here is where I usually ask how many weeks of vacation the church gives them, and how much of that vacation time they actually take. Most of the bivocational ministers tell me they get two weeks. I then ask if they've ever had a sabbatical. Some answer my question by asking what a sabbatical is while others just laugh at the suggestion. They assure me their church would never give them a paid sabbatical because it would cost too much.
As a resource minister in our region I speak often with the churches in my area, especially when they are seeking new pastor leadership. One of the things I am trying to get the churches to realize is that the least expensive thing they can give their pastors is time away. Every church, and I mean every church, should be giving their pastors four weeks vacation. Yes, I mean when that pastor first comes on the field, not after he's been there ten years or more. What will that actually cost the church? Very little. The church budget is already set, and the pastor's salary is determined. What difference does it make if he or she is there 50 weeks a year or 48? It will still be the same salary. Most of the small churches in my area pay $75.00 - $150.00 for someone to fill the pulpit when the pastor is away so the only real cost to the church for the pastor to get four weeks vacation instead of two weeks will be another $150.00 - $300.00 a year. If the church can't afford that it needs to shut its doors and stop playing church.
The same math applies for sabbaticals. I have yet to talk to a bivocational pastor, and few fully-funded ones, who have not told me their church couldn't afford to give them a three month paid sabbatical. Let's use the same figures, and for the sake of simplicity we'll just assume the church will pay $100.00 a week for someone to fill the pulpit while the pastor is on sabbatical. Three months is 13 weeks which is $1,300.00. Again, the pastor's salary is already in the budget so him being paid while on sabbatical doesn't change that at all. We're talking about $1,300.00 every seven years to give the pastor a breather and to allow him or her to relax and come back refreshed. Again, if that will break your church it's probably time to consider closing.
Sometimes when I urge churches to do these two things for their pastors I have people push back by saying something like, "We all work, and none of us gets three months off with pay every seven years. Why should our pastor get that?" My response is always, "Because none of you are on call 24/7/365. You go into work, and when your shift is over you go home and do whatever you want. You're not called out at 2:00 am to go to the hospital or to talk with someone who is suicidal. No matter what your pastor is doing, he or she is still the pastor of your church with all the responsibilities that entails. That is a lot of pressure, and that extra two weeks vacation and sabbatical is a way to help him or her unwind from that pressure."
I firmly believe that one reason pastors leave their churches to seek another place to serve is that it is the only way they can get away from their pastoral responsibilities for a brief time. It is the only way they can spend a fun weekend with their families without having to worry about what's happening at the church or feeling guilty about being away. Maybe, pastors would not be so tempted to leave if they knew they had some extra vacation time and an upcoming sabbatical to look forward to.
Most pastors struggle advocating these things for themselves, and as a former pastor I understant that. This is why, as a judicatory worker, I am willing to advocate for them. In my opinion, this needs to become a priority for other denominational workers. We need to speak up for our pastors, both bivocational and fully-funded, to help them get the time away from ministry that will help them enjoy a healthier ministry, better family relationships, and practice better self-care.
A lot of the frustration often centers around the limited time they have for themselves and their families. Others in the church can go to a ball game on Sunday or to the beach, but they are expected to be at church. They understand that expectation, but they also know their family needs some time to do things as well. Being a pastor really limits what one can do on the weekends, and if that pastor is bivocational there's not a lot of opportunities to do things during the week either. Here is where I usually ask how many weeks of vacation the church gives them, and how much of that vacation time they actually take. Most of the bivocational ministers tell me they get two weeks. I then ask if they've ever had a sabbatical. Some answer my question by asking what a sabbatical is while others just laugh at the suggestion. They assure me their church would never give them a paid sabbatical because it would cost too much.
As a resource minister in our region I speak often with the churches in my area, especially when they are seeking new pastor leadership. One of the things I am trying to get the churches to realize is that the least expensive thing they can give their pastors is time away. Every church, and I mean every church, should be giving their pastors four weeks vacation. Yes, I mean when that pastor first comes on the field, not after he's been there ten years or more. What will that actually cost the church? Very little. The church budget is already set, and the pastor's salary is determined. What difference does it make if he or she is there 50 weeks a year or 48? It will still be the same salary. Most of the small churches in my area pay $75.00 - $150.00 for someone to fill the pulpit when the pastor is away so the only real cost to the church for the pastor to get four weeks vacation instead of two weeks will be another $150.00 - $300.00 a year. If the church can't afford that it needs to shut its doors and stop playing church.
The same math applies for sabbaticals. I have yet to talk to a bivocational pastor, and few fully-funded ones, who have not told me their church couldn't afford to give them a three month paid sabbatical. Let's use the same figures, and for the sake of simplicity we'll just assume the church will pay $100.00 a week for someone to fill the pulpit while the pastor is on sabbatical. Three months is 13 weeks which is $1,300.00. Again, the pastor's salary is already in the budget so him being paid while on sabbatical doesn't change that at all. We're talking about $1,300.00 every seven years to give the pastor a breather and to allow him or her to relax and come back refreshed. Again, if that will break your church it's probably time to consider closing.
Sometimes when I urge churches to do these two things for their pastors I have people push back by saying something like, "We all work, and none of us gets three months off with pay every seven years. Why should our pastor get that?" My response is always, "Because none of you are on call 24/7/365. You go into work, and when your shift is over you go home and do whatever you want. You're not called out at 2:00 am to go to the hospital or to talk with someone who is suicidal. No matter what your pastor is doing, he or she is still the pastor of your church with all the responsibilities that entails. That is a lot of pressure, and that extra two weeks vacation and sabbatical is a way to help him or her unwind from that pressure."
I firmly believe that one reason pastors leave their churches to seek another place to serve is that it is the only way they can get away from their pastoral responsibilities for a brief time. It is the only way they can spend a fun weekend with their families without having to worry about what's happening at the church or feeling guilty about being away. Maybe, pastors would not be so tempted to leave if they knew they had some extra vacation time and an upcoming sabbatical to look forward to.
Most pastors struggle advocating these things for themselves, and as a former pastor I understant that. This is why, as a judicatory worker, I am willing to advocate for them. In my opinion, this needs to become a priority for other denominational workers. We need to speak up for our pastors, both bivocational and fully-funded, to help them get the time away from ministry that will help them enjoy a healthier ministry, better family relationships, and practice better self-care.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)