Quote:
Originally Posted by SolaScriptura  I've known many hardworking, diligent, proactive pastors... these men earn their pay and then some.
But I'd be lying if I denied knowing more than a few lazy pastors who basically sit around reading - sometimes studying, sometimes just novels - sometimes watching their kids (because their wife works outside the home) - sometimes watching their grandkids.... outsourcing all their counseling, etc.... and then telling the congregation about how hard their job is and how much they "labor over their souls."
Sorry pastors on this board... I know there are diligent ministers, but I've personally known too many lazy ones to just presume that a minister is earning his keep. (I'm sorry, spending a few hours collecting anecdotes and copying sermon points from other preachers to deliver a 30 minute sermon once a week doesn't, in my mind, warrant the ridiculous salaries I've seen.)
Anyway, If I was in a church I'd want the pastor held accountable for how he spends his time.
But then again, I'm writing as one who goes above and beyond in the execution of his ministry sometimes causing great personal and familial hardship in a field in which many of my peer "ministers" look at me like I'm crazy for doing so.
There's people who whine about being busy because they're weak and/or poor time managers... and then there's people who are busy. |
Hey brother,
You use this phrase, "I'm writing as one who goes above and beyond in the execution of his ministry sometimes causing great personal and familial hardship in a field in which many of my peer "ministers" look at me like I'm crazy for doing so."
Could you elaborate on this?
I do not know what "above and beyond" means. When do we ever even succeed in meeting our duties - maybe in an OER, but not before God.
I always feel as if I am lacking or not doing enough
PUPOSE OF MY POSTING: the purpose of this post - since much of what I do is give hospitality, counsel, and talk...hardly things that callous the hands, i feel over-worked but when viewed objectivley it seems that I do very little.
Also, I just read several surveys about pastors self-reporting about work and family issues, and almost all say that they are over-worked....which made me wonder, since everyone in the US probably would report the same thing. Instead of pitying the pastor who is blessed to be able to read and study Scriptures, I felt pity for those who labor in dead-end jobs...
I also have met pastors who "seem" to spend a great time in inactivity but report that they "labour" and "ache" over their people throughout the week.
And this month I have chiefly talked, counseled, etc, often in informal settings - which hardly seems like work (but oh, I am so tired afterwards).
Also, I know several pastors whose chief employment is sermon-crafting and they do not do much vistation (one man told me he spends 30 hours for each hour of preaching, and he preaches Sunday morning and Sunday night to a "crowd" of 50.
So, I am tryng to come to terms with what exactly constitutes "meeting our duties" and what constitutes "over-work" in the pastorate, since when we self-report on surveys, we tend to answer in ways that benefit ourselves.
....Maybe I've just been reading too many statistics on Pastors from the Barna Group, heh?
