Wanted: Super-Pastor
I get to work with a lot of pastors, helping them think through their next phase of ministry life. Many of these pastors experienced hard times in a church and question if there are any healthy churches left in the world.
Today I see an ad for a pastor like this (ad deleted to protect church’s identity) and I’m reminded why so many pastors feel burned out in ministry.
Can you imagine a church expecting one person to do, or even just be in charge of all those tasks for that amount of money? Since I removed the link here’s what they are requesting of their new pastor:
We need a pastor for our church who can handle the job as the solo pastor. That would include the preaching, teaching, evangelizing, visitation, and leadership. (Emphasis on “solo” mine.)
All this for the grand “maximum” salary of $30K per year. What they are basically saying is, “We want a pastor who can do everything, but we won’t pay you anything.” I suspect the one who goes there would quickly find out they are also saying, “We will love you lots, as long as you keep us happy.” My experience tells me this isn’t even the complete list of what they expect a pastor to do.
Being pastor of a church should never be a “solo” position, regardless of the size of the church. I pray this church does well, but I also pray they get a new concept for the role of the shepherd in their church. I also pray for the one who takes this position!
9 responses to "Wanted: Super-Pastor"
Teri, absolutely. It is completely possible the term “solo” is being misinterpreted. It is also possible that the primary point of my post is that many churches treat the pastor’s position as a “solo” position, the one who is solely responsibly for everything in the church, and that is why many churches (probably most churches actually) are not growing today and why people are leaving the ministry in rapid numbers. I really was not as much saying this church is one of those churches as using their ad for an example. I would hope that when a church places a national ad they would think through the wording, but you are right, the word may totally be misinterpreted.
In fairness to this one church, I removed the link to the actual church. I hope this church is as you describe and fully intends to support their pastor. Please pray with me though for those churches that certainly do expect a pastor to do anything and love their pastor as long as the people are kept happy, because sadly they are far too common. In the last three years we have had at least 5 pastors who were injured from those type churches in our church so they could heal until their next assignment.
Is it possible that the term “solo” is being misinterpreted?
Perhaps the meaning the folks who placed the ad are trying to get across is that the pastor will not have an associate pastor, or co pastor or seniors’ pastor or youth pastor but rather those areas are done by church member volunteers, especially since the total membership is around 50 people. It would be my guess that they would have in place deacons, SS leaders, committees, etc to help with that burden of leadership. But they didn’t go into details
I know that some churches expect too much. But I think it is wrong to immediately assume that a church is wanting “… a pastor who can do everything, but we won’t pay you anything” and “We will love you lots, as long as you keep us happy.” Those are pretty harsh statements, since the heart of this congregation is not known.
I have had the sincere privilege of pastoring a church in a rural farming community, where I was the sole pastor, but thankfully not the “solo” pastor. The idea of leading a church totally alone in any community and shouldering the whole burden of leadership was the point of this post. Hopefully that’s not what this church intends to do to their pastor, but that’s the impression I got from the ad. Sadly I know of far too many churches that expect the pastor to be “solo” in everything and this is not the New Testament model of a church in any size community.
Fargo, OK is a farming town of 320-ish near the panhandle. Median income is just under $30,000.
In rural communities the pastor is expected to do “preaching, teaching, evangelizing, visitation, and leadership” as his job. And in the rural farming community husband is from (just about the same size towns), not only is the pastor expected to do that… he may be preaching at 2 or 3 different small churches in neighboring tiny communities each Sunday for the pay.
Volunteers round out the roster, deacons help with visits and you have generations sitting out in the pews supporting.
It’s not “super pastor”, it’s “normal pastor”.
Being a Pastor is truly a calling, unfortunately some which aren’t called get installed by the people of a church or denomination to serve without that in place.
It’s said to say that many pastors receive far less than other professionals do even in economically stable churches in an area with a high cost of living.
The great thing is that if they are called and are seeking God as well as being Prayed Up and in the Word of God they’ll have the direction for the people. When a Pastor is listening to the Holy Spirit of God and delegating according to the gifting of the saints in the congregation then the many things become manageable. God receives the glory and everyone is in service doing what they are called to do as “the Priesthood of Believers”.
Being a Pastor with self reliance and knowledge results in quick burnout.
But being a Pastor serving without the people hearing the call of God on their lives will draw the overflow of his life out of the person.
Being a Pastor and serving beyond the time he had called you for to a ministry is a recipe for burnout, heartache, depression, and sometimes a falling away.
To the people of God
1. Love your Pastor
2. Support your Pastor
3. Encourage your Pastor
4. Serve in your church with your Pastor and listen to him. An anointed Pastor is the gift to the church and will serve to strengthen, encourage, and support each saint.
Thankfully this was done preaching or even writing a sermon.
Remember if you’re reading this and have gotten out of attending church go back this week to be blessed or try another church out if needed, since we all need each other.
This is VERY interesting as I was just sharing something with my wife in regards to this that I received from the Holy Ghost earlier this week. What the Holy Ghost revealed to me is that many churches are almost the same as a bar, except they are non-alcoholic. The vision I got was that when a patron walks into a bar, they expect the bartender to serve the best “spirits” so that they can get full and satisfied, with ZERO responsibility on their part. Yeah, they pay their tab, but beyond that, they are their with the expectations of getting their fill, feeling good and making sure that everytime they go back it happens again. From the church perspective, to many depend on the church “bartender” – the Pastor, Preist, Reverend, etc. – to fill them up with The Spirit, make them feel good, and send them home feeling good, with zero responsibility of stepping up to The Call to do their part in the body. They have turned it into the spiritual “bar” scene and as long as the “bartender” keeps serving it up, they will guarantee repeat business.
Sad that this is going on and then its no wonder why so many people step away from God and church. I just pray that the Spiritual slumber that the body of Christ is in right now is shaken off and people wake up before its too late.
PRD2
As a Young (ie 18) Leader, I see alot of things wrong with the way Church leadership is set up… especially in the traditional church in the UK. But honestly, for a church that size it is unlikely that they can afford anything more. Bill Hybels in his book Courageous Leadership tells us that in the first 3 years of Willow Creek the Church couldn’t afford to pay him…
In terms of doing all the Jobs… though some things should be volunteered for in the Church, that’s pretty much the definition of a small church pastor… I’m not saying its right… but was the Church designed to be small?
Thanks Ryan. I think my beef is the church expecting one person to do everything for that amount of money. Probably my biggest gripe, however, is the word “solo”. If the church plans to help the pastor lead these areas, then the salary might now seem as low to me. Still, it is hard to live on that amount of money, especially if a couple desires to be a one income family so one can stay home with the children.
Honestly,
For the size and the region, that salary isn’t a problem, at least I don’t think.
Salary is usually based on averages within the church. So I don’t think salary is the issue here.
I agree that the tasks will be great, but that’s with any pastor. I think your beef with the church is right to be questioning the mentality of the church, not the amount of money. Thanks for the post.