I just read a number that really hurts me as a pastor.  15,000 pastors leave their churches each year, with no plans to return to ministry. Granted, a lot of pastors leave for reasons such as immorality, infidelity, etc…

However, the #1 reason pastors cited for leaving ministry was “church abuse”.  The #2 reason was “unrealistic expectations by the church“. Having been in ministry for 14 years, I can say i’ve seen my fair share of both.  It hurts my heart to see so many people who genuinely love the lord, and want to serve Him, leaving ministry for these reasons.

Truth is, most churches are set up to abuse the pastor.  He’s paid very little, his wife is expected to work full time for the church for free, and the pastor is expected to do everything everyone wants, be there for everybody who feels they need him, and be still preach great sermons every week.  It’s just not realistic.

This is the exact reason I felt led to start a church. We have established a church where the pastors can have healthy lives, and their families can flourish.  I love that my kids love that I’m a pastor, not resent it. I believe I’m healthier, my family is healthier, and our church is healthier because of our structure.  Sure, there are still people who try to control me (they can’t), but they have no avenue to abuse me (or my family), I simply won’t allow it.

Don’t get me wrong; pastors should work hard, and should be accountable for their actions (this will be another post), but they should also feel free to be human. I love pastoring Palm Valley Church.  I love the people I’m called to shepherd. I encourage you tonight to pray that God will encourage the hearts of Pastors, that they might lead a revolution of Christ-followers in building His Kingdom!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 18th, 2006 at 9:15 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Should you want to respond to this post, feel free to trackback to this post from your own site.