Mark Driscoll (Wikipedia) shares some stunning statistics about pastors. I’m generally skeptical of statistics, but even allowing for a sizable margin of error, these statistics are stunning. Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in Saint Louis compiled these statistics from Barna, Maranatha Life, and Focus on the Family and shared them in a message on the burden of pastoral ministry.
Pastors
Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
Fifty percent of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce.
Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.
Pastors’ Wives
Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.
Abraham Piper at the Desiring God Blog has posted a questionnaire that the pastoral staff at Bethlehem Baptist Church use to keep each other accountable. This seems like a great idea—as long as everyone is committed to being brutally honest and not giving himself the benefit of the doubt.
Do you know of other churches that are doing something similar? Does your church have some sort of accountability in place? Do you agree that something like this is a good idea?
Pastor Mike Ballard, who blogs at Running for the Prize, just started blogging in January. He shares six benefits that blogging has had for his ministry.
Creativity – Blogging regularly has helped spark my creativity and challenges me to come up with different ways to keep my readers checking my blog.
Information – Blogging allows me to share information with the members of my congregation about upcoming events and any updates.
Transparency – I am able to share little bits of information about the happenings in my life and with my family that allow me to be a little more “real” with my members. . . .
Discipleship – Blogging gives me a chance to teach my members throughout the week. . . .
Preaching – Blogging has blessed my preaching because it is helping me develop my storytelling skills. . . .
World Missions – Blogging has also allowed me to share God’s good news with people around the world. . . .
Bill Seaver, a guest blogger at Church Marketing Sucks, talks about the growing trend of disgruntled church members to vent their frustrations and disagreements with their pastors and church leaders.
I personally know of four churches that are dealing with this to some degree right now. Here are twoexamples from Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tenn. (these are not blogs in the purest sense of the word but are text-only web sites that serve the same purpose).
The issues that prompt the attacks vary, but in each case the church is under fire from a small group of individuals who disagree with the leadership (either the pastor himself or the leadership as a whole). Also, in every case the churches had no idea what hit them.
He suggests five steps to take for pastors in this kind of situation and for those who want to prepare for it.
Start a Blog ASAP
If you start a blog now, before a crisis, you will have more credibility when/if an issue pops up. I think it’s a good idea to be blogging anyway just for communication and feedback purposes, but now more than ever I’m convinced that it’s necessary for such a case as this. . . .
Get Notifications
There are two great places to easily find out what bloggers are saying about you and your church. Technorati.com is the hub of the blogging universe and allows you to search on words and phrases to see if any blogs mention the words. . . . You should also set up Google Alerts. . . . [I’d also recommend using the new Google Blog Search.]
Be Open and Honest
Here’s the thing about blogging, it’s a great medium that facilitates conversation and understanding, but if you’re not telling the whole truth, you’re going to wish you never said anything at all. Whether you get busted in your own blog’s comments or on someone else’s blog, I can almost guarantee you’ll be caught (probably by another blogger) if you give half truths, misleading statements or outright lies. As long as you respond openly, honestly and candidly, people will see that you don’t have anything to hide and that you’re willing to address the concerns of the attack blog. . . .
Everyone Reads Attack Blogs
Recent studies show that only about 30% of Americans read blogs, but that number will increase dramatically if there’s an attack blog targeting your church. Attack blogs are both easily accessible and raise curiosity once discovered. . . .
Ask for Help
If you don’t understand how to get a blog started or how to respond (if you find yourself in a crisis situation) find someone to help you. . . .
The folks at Church Marketing Sucks just finished a series on innovative churches, which you may or may not find helpful. I post about it here only to inform you of what some are saying, not necessarily to endorse the views expressed.
Pastor and Professor David Fitch previously gave three reasons that they are moving away from the senior pastor model of leadership in their church, Life on the Vine.
Because it doesn’t make sense to build a church around a personality.
Because there are no supermen (or women).
Because isolated pastors can get tunnel vision.
He adds five more.
Because pastors benefit from being bi-vocational.
Because it models the diversity and interrelatedness of the Body.
Because it protects pastors from the temptations which lead to moral failure and/or disappointment.
Because it is hard for pastors to be servants when they are put on a pedestal.
Because the senior pastor position is an impossible position to live up to.
Read the articles at Out of Ur: part 1 and part 2.
Paul Peterson, lead pastor at Northgate Free Methodist Church in Batavia, New York, started blogging in November of 2006. He shares five ways that blogging has proved beneficial for him and his church.
It gives the church real-time, behind-the-scenes info!
It allows me to offer commentary on church life.
It allows the church to see the “other side” of their pastor (particularly helpful in a larger church).
It provides opportunity to share and discuss vision.
Cory Miller, a church communications director from Oklahoma City, has the results from a recent survey he conducted on Christian bloggers. Here are the tops in each category:
So according to the survey, most Christian bloggers are senior pastor men in their thirties who in the last year started blogging with Google’s Blogger and post about once per week.
Check out ChurchRelevance for a nice layout of all the data.
Mark Driscoll (Wikipedia) continues his series Death by Ministry. In part 9 he shares 20 tips for reducing your level of stress.
.
The Shepherds’ Conference
