I've not studied surveys of Christian pastors, but from the sounds of this article, it's a tough profession. That doesn't surprise me, because it has so many diverse demands. A good pastor has to be a theologian, psychologist, CEO, accountant, speaker, and lots of other things, all with a smile on his or her face.
I think that I'll stick to the cushy life of a professor.
(thanks Eric)
4 comments:
Bradley, I'd love someone to check these stats out. This one alone - "Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches" - has to be incorrect otherwise there'd be no pastor left in the land (18,000 a year?). When I queried these figures on my blog, Barna claimed they knew nothing about it, even though it comes from them according to many internet sources.)
I think some of these "stats" have been floating around the Net for a number of years.
I'm always a bit dubious when stats are accompanied by a lot of exclamation marks. Perhaps in your spare time you could do some work on this lot of stats too. It would be great to have them corrected.
Bradley, thank you very much for the info in your book as now I am very skeptical when I read of the "stats" on something, especially on religious subjects.
Pastors are "called", while CEOs and the like see it as just a job. Most pastors have a conscience, while CEOs and the like (at least lately) seem to be quite transient. I think a key ingredient is the concept of responsibility - hence the significantly more difficult "job".
Again, great book that is needed today.
Good for you, Mike, for checking out the stats. They certainly could be made up or otherwise mutated.
Good thoughts, E.D.
Andrew Purves’ book The Crucifixion of Ministry. from the introduction :
To ministers, let me say this as strongly as I can: preach Christ, preach Christ, preach Christ. Get out of your offices and get into your studies. Quit playing office manager and program director, quit staffing committee’s, and even right now recommit yourselves to what you were ordained to do, namely the ministry of Word and sacraments. Pick up good theology books again: hard books, classical texts, great theologians. Claim the energy and time to study for days and days at a time. Disappear for long hours because you are reading Athanasius on the person of Jesus Christ or Wesley on sanctification or Augustine on the Trinity or Calvin on the Christian life or Andrew Murray on the priesthood of Christ. Then you will have something to say that’s worth hearing.
adopting the world's model of leadership is deadly to pastor's and churches.
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