Another faithful pastor submits his resignation

We hear the news 'Pastor so-and-so is leaving his church', and another small evangelical church begins to face up to the prospect of having to find a replacement for their faithful long-serving pastor.

But why is he leaving? Has he reached the end of his usefulness as he indicated when telling the church: 'I think I have fulfilled the task that the Lord gave me to do in this church'?

There is no question that the time will come for every pastorate to be concluded, and for the Lord (hopefully) to bring a replacement for the next phase of the life of the church. But is it true that every pastor who moves on is doing so because he has 'fulfilled the task'?

The writer knows of a pastor who is moving on after nearly 20 years serving a small evangelical church in a rural setting, and feels he has taken the church as far as he can, and that he and they need a change. This all sounds so spiritual and convincing, but it is not that long ago that the same pastor was heard to say that in his opinion a call to the pastorate of a local church was a call to serve there for life; so what has changed? In fact, the pastor concerned has suffered a series of disappointments which have finally robbed him of the will to continue serving in that church. What are some of these disappointments?

Evangelistic lethargy

Like any pastor worth his salt, he consistently preached the gospel week in week out, not just in the pulpit but on the doors, in the schools, and at the children's and youth work. In addition, he devised many interesting guest services and events at which the gospel was shared. 'What's wrong with that?' you might be asking yourself. On many occasions the other leaders in the church, who he might have expected to be first to offer their support, were first to offer their apologies - often citing the demands of work or family as excuse for their absence, or simply saying evangelism 'wasn't their thing'. Now there will be times when Christian people are unable to help in a particular outreach, but when it is more often the rule than the exception, then any pastor is going to feel discouraged.

Overwork and poor support

If church members only stopped to ask who is actually doing the maintenance and general repairs upon their church building, they might be horrified to discover that in many cases it is their pastor! It is no exaggeration to say that many pastors, especially in smaller churches which are reluctant to pay others to maintain and repair buildings, are spending upwards of one day a week on property management. Surely every evangelical church ought to know Acts 6.1-7, where the apostles had become so busy 'serving at tables' that they asked the church to appoint 'men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; while we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word'. And yet there are many evangelical churches allowing, or even expecting, their pastor to 'serve at tables' when he should be praying and ministering the Word.

Many pastors of Reformed evangelical churches, and their families, live uncomplainingly on 'short rations' in a church house, using whatever savings they have and whatever extra income a wife might earn in part-time work to subsidise the ministry. All this while others in the church go on foreign holidays, driving good cars, buying their own houses and enjoying a much more comfortable lifestyle than the pastor and his family. Now the pastor I know of did not complain about his low income, for he was never in the Lord's service for the money, but of course the marked difference in financial care he received to that which his members awarded themselves didn't help his motivation when the work was tough.

Resistance to necessary change

Another area of discouragement for pastors generally is the unwillingness of established church members and other leaders to make necessary changes.

Why is it that when Christians are first converted they are willing to accept change, but once they have been a member or on the leadership for some years, they often become more concerned with preserving things the way they have always been? Of course, not all change is for the better, but some change is necessary if churches are not to remain in the 20th, or even the 18th, century.

Many pastors are not fashion victims, but always try to lead the church carefully forwards into the modern world - whether it is in having a modern hymnbook, comfortable seating, updating the heating system or investing in modern version Bibles. Yet often when they have tried to make necessary changes in the life and work of the church they meet with resistance and have to fight for every improvement. I know of one church where the pastor had a desperate struggle to persuade the church to meet the new requirements of the law for the protection of children from abuse, by instituting a 'Child Protection Policy'. To his dismay he discovered that, rather than welcoming a system which would ensure protection of all children coming on to the church premises, people were actually incensed at what they saw as implied criticism. 'We don't need to be vetted', they said, 'we are not going to kow-tow to the demands of secular authorities and let them interfere in spiritual work'. Is it any wonder that after this type of resistance to change, this constant battle with inertia, that pastor is just giving up?

Criticism of the family

Perhaps most painful are the open verbal attacks upon a pastor's wife by others in the church because she might, for example, try to organise the smooth running of the children's work. I know again of one pastor's wife who was criticised for organising a rota of teachers and helpers and a Sunday School syllabus. The church officers and their family members were outraged at the expectation that they would turn up on time (if at all) to teach or to help at meetings when they said they would.

Ask yourself, is this how you expect your place of work or your home to function? If so, then your life must be a shambles.

These are only some of the reasons why a pastor can be disappointed with his church and resign. But what can we and our church learn from such scenarios? Ask yourself and your leaders these questions:

* Are we really supporting the pastor with our time and presence in the evangelistic outreach of our church, or are we just avoiding the subject, dragging our feet and letting him get on with it?

* Is our pastor overworking because his conscience won't allow him to stand back and see the practical needs of the Lord's work being neglected by us? Is his financial support on a par with ours; what will happen to him when he retires?

* Do we as a church welcome, or do we constantly obstruct, necessary changes recommended to us for prayer and approval by the pastor or even by a group of elders?

* Do we criticise a leader's wife for trying to do what we should be doing, and doing it properly? Remember, she is not a paid church employee any more than you are and that what she does she does for the Lord and his glory and for the benefit of your local church.

And so another faithful pastor submits his resignation; but does he need to?

Another faithful pastor submits his resignation

Evangelistic lethargy

Overwork and poor support

Resistance to necessary change

Criticism of the family

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