Chuck Lawless
Some time ago, I posted, “Ten Factors that Help Long-Term Pastors Stay at Their Church.” Since that time, I’ve also worked with declining churches whose pastors have, in my opinion, stayed too long in their current place of service. Here are some of the clues that move my thinking in that direction:
- The church is in continual decline, and the pastor blames the congregation. I know there are many troubled churches—and decline cannot be attributed to only one cause—but long-term pastors leading churches into decline must take some responsibility for the problem.
- The pastor no longer has vision for the church; he lives in survival mode. Everything is about paying the next bill and getting through next Sunday. Any sense of future life is long gone.
- If anyone would offer the pastor a new job, he’d likely take it. He might even be looking, but few churches want to interview a leader whose church is in constant decline. If they do talk with him and he blames the church, they have even more reason to discontinue the process.
- The church has lost any sense of passion for what they do. Often, a church in a state of decline follows the lead of the long-term pastor into pessimism and hopelessness. Nobody takes needed steps toward change because everybody’s just tired of the struggle.
- The only people left in the church are long-termers who will die as members of the church. They don’t like what’s happening to their church, but they’re also not moving their membership. They’ll wait out this pastor like they’ve waited out others.
- Paying the bills takes priority over everything else. As the church declines and givers decrease, the bills nevertheless remain the same. This problem is especially acute if the church is still making building and property payments.
- The pastor finds himself isolating from the church family.It’s just hard to “hang out” with people when his ministry doesn’t seem to be going well. He retreats into his office and closes the door more often than he used to.
- The pastor is willing to let the church die on his watch. You’d hope that would never be the case—and I’ve not seen it happen often—but I have seen it . The pastor guides the ship to its death and blames the congregation all the way.
Leaving a declining church is seldom easy for a pastor, however. Nobody wants to feel like he is “abandoning the ship,” and no pastor wants to look back on a seemingly failed ministry. Rather than condemn any pastor, let’s pray for all pastors today who may be wondering about God’s will for their lives. B&R – Chuck Lawless is Dean of Doctoral Studies and Vice-President of Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, where he also serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions. He is also Team Leader for Theological Education Strategists for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
