My Pastoral Longing: Healthy for the Long Haul
Tim Keller finished strong. Tim Keller finished well. His life and calling has me thinking.
A Crisis has Developed right under the Nose of the American Church
In March 2022, Barna revealed a sad statistic about the state of American pastoral leadership – 42% of pastors have “given real, serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year”, citing “the immense stress of the job” as the number one reason.
Even 20 years ago, I remember hearing that 50% of seminary graduates drop-out of full-time ministry within the first five years. When you contemplate the enormous financial and personal costs associated with receiving a three-year M.Div. degree, the situation can fairly be summarized as “the stats are staggering but the stories are heartbreaking”.
Over the years, I’ve heard my fair share of anecdotal stories about the meteoric rise of pastoral burnout and the myriad of churches experiencing back-to-back-to-back pastoral transitions where the previous pastor either flamed out spectacularly or went quietly into the night in being unable to sustain a healthy pastoral tenure at the church (the average tenure is now between three and four years for a senior pastor).
When I was ordained at 27 years of age, I was informed that I was part of the “Seven Percent Club”: only 7% of American Presbyterian clergy were under the age of forty. (I have often wondered whether this meant that I was also part of the “One Percent Club” of Presbytery clergy under the age of 30.) Our denomination has openly talked about the “Gray Wave” which has already started whereby a significant number (majority?) of our pastors are now hitting retirement age. At the other end of the age spectrum, many American seminaries are scrambling to feverishly downsize by selling property or close extension campuses because “Gen Z” is attending seminary at record low rates – meaning that the American church is producing fewer and fewer biblically competent and theologically trained pastors.
A crisis? Yes. (More like a tsunami.)
My Personal Take: Ministry as Joy
I am thankfully not part of the “42% Club”. I consider ministry an absolute privilege. And a joy. Even in the trials of malaria or the attempted break-ins at our house in Central Africa, I have always considered ministry a joyous privilege.
I get to do this!!
I frequently tell newcomers to our church: “The Lord has brought together so many special people together in this place.” I continue to be thankful for a church family that allows me to “Preach, Pray, and Be with People”. I often boast to my friends around the country about how well Trinity has loved our family from day one.
The Tim Keller Effect
Considering the crisis of American pastoral leadership, it is hardly surprising to witness the extraordinary outpouring of love and appreciation for Tim Keller and his ministry (he recently passed away from pancreatic cancer). Much of the appreciation, amongst the younger generation of leaders, can be summarized with this sentiment:
Tim Keller finished well. Tim Keller finished strong. It can be done.
One day, I hope to look back at my own life and say:
I loved my wife well. I loved my boys well. I faithfully preached the gospel (2 Tim 4:1-2). I discipled believers (Matt 28:19) and raised up leaders (Matt. 4:19). I truly loved the people of Trinity Wellsprings Church by shepherding them with high grace, high truth, and high integrity (1 Peter 4:8; 1 Thess. 2:8).
Three Important Questions for Healthy Congregations
I also recognize that the congregation plays a pivotal role in creating a culture which is healthy and sustainable for the long haul of ministry. Deep down, I believe most congregations long for all of their pastors and staff to love their families well, to thrive in their ministry areas, and to engage in Christ-centered ministry from places of health and sustainability. What does this mean for the congregation?
Healthy congregations which sustain healthy and joy-filled pastorates habitually ask three important questions:
1) Can this wait until Monday?
During the installation service for Pastor Kristian, Rev. Dr. George McIlrath recently challenged our congregation with this question: Can it wait until Monday?
His question brought back memories of my first year working as an ordained pastor in Illinois. Those were the days where people still left frequent voice messages on your – gasp! – home phone’s message machine.
I probably received about 70 messages during the course of my first year which started with the phrase: “Sorry to bother you on your day off, BUT…”
70 times in 52 weeks. Looking back, it was a church that fueled a high level of burnout and turnover amongst its staff. Ultimately, it’s up to the pastor and staff to carve out healthy personal and professional boundaries. Yet, in healthy church cultures, lay leaders who are working closely with staff members know the “day off” of the staff person with which they are working (FYI: my day off is Friday - as Sunday is a “working day”).
I try to limit myself to four main ministry activities during Friday/Saturdays:
(1) I occasionally visit the hospital in emergency situations.
(2) I occasionally visit the hospital for new births.
(3) I participate in the life of the church (visiting missionary, Presbytery meetings, Special Events in the Life of the Church, etc.)
(4) I finish prepping for preaching.
I say all this only to say: “Especially if it’s an administrative question where a toilet is not flooding the entire building (yikes!) or a roof is not hanging on for dear life by a single nail, then it can probably wait until Monday.”
Healthy churches cultures frequently ask: “Can it wait until Monday?”
2) Can you put this in an email?
I recently came home at 6:00 pm on a Monday night. And received 14 text messages.
Here are the text messages that are helpful for pastors:
“Did you know Joe Smith just had a heart attack; he arrived at the hospital 45 minutes ago.”
“My wife just gave birth this afternoon. She and the baby are doing great!”
“My marriage is in crisis. Can we talk?”
Administrative details about the running of the church and its programs and its properties – an email is always better because it communicates “this isn’t pastorally urgent” and “I can wait until you are doing administrative tasks in the office”.
Healthy church cultures frequently ask: “Can you put it in an email?”
3) Can you practice patience?
Patience is a necessary ingredient for cultivating a healthy church family. Why do I highlight patience as a particular virtue in a healthy church?
First, many of our church’s ministries are either led or co-led or staffed by a team of lay leaders who have full-time lives! Realistically, this means that ministry initiatives and decisions will move at a much slower pace than you might be accustomed to in the business or military arenas. Can you practice patience with the slowness of the church?
Second, think of the big ministry priorities of your pastor: relationships and texts. Relationships take time. Lives are messy. I love listening to people, meeting new people, counseling people, visiting people during hard times, and generally just “being with the flock”.
This is important work. Because it’s the relational work of a pastor. Ministry is relationship.
Yet, I often go home (on Thursday evenings) with the sentiment: “Next week, I’ll do better.” Because I recognize that I missed seeing Mrs. Jane Doe who was in and out of the hospital when another relational crisis blew up. Or I missed reaching out to Mr. John Doe when a leadership hailstorm or administrative windstorm blew across my desk.
Texts also take time. Exegeting ancient texts of scripture requires intellectual curiosity, spiritual sensitivity….and time. About 12-14 hours of my week for a sermon.
Yet certain weeks, the text punches me in the nose. I limp into the pulpit. You can’t see my bandages but a war has been fought in my study. Recently, I was preaching through Ephesians which contains the following:
Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?~Eph. 4:8-9
Oh, wretched preacher that I am! Who will deliver me from this week’s sermon? (Loose pastoral paraphrase of Rom 7:24.)
Some scriptural texts – let the reader understand – take 12 hours only to arrive at the place of complete despondency and homiletical despair before the text.
This is simply to make the point: your pastor is called to make relationships and texts the “main thing” which means, likely, that your pet project or your sacred cow may take a back seat during a normal week. Not because it’s not important. Not because the pastor doesn’t care. Simply because texts and relationships are the main tributaries flowing into the river of the pastor’s schedule.
Healthy church cultures practice patience with the slowness of the church, recognizing that pastors are called to work with relationships and texts in order to prioritize (what the Puritans called) “the care of souls”.
The Crisis of American Churches: What can a Single Church do to Help?
Given the malaise affecting American pastors specifically and the American church in general, what in the world can a single church really do?
I do believe that we (at Trinity Wellsprings Church) have a critical role to play in the larger church.
I believe Trinity is a healthy place to experience ministry.
And because I believe in our church and in the effectiveness of our staff, I also believe Trinity has the responsibility to be a “teaching church” where we model a highly relational Jesus-centered ministry to the next generation.
These are some of the reasons why Trinity chooses to invest in internships and summer ministry interns. Church interns are primarily about investing in the next generation. So young people have the opportunity to see ministry “up close and personal”.
Can Trinity be a place where young people “get their feet wet in ministry”? A place where their calling to the ministry is tested and tried out? A place where young people are shepherded by a staff team that comes alongside them and by a congregation that encourages them?
Healthy ministry experiences are the fuel and fire that will propel a gospel movement in our country, and I’d love nothing more than for our church family to continue to play a small role in that great and strategic endeavor!
Thankful to be your pastor,
Rev. Dr. Jason Carter