pastor care Archives - Baptist & Reflector

FEW PASTORS LEFT THE PULPIT DESPITE INCREASED PRESSURE

October 25, 2021

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources

NASHVILLE — Pastors faced increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, as churches were frequently forced to adapt overnight. More felt their role was overwhelming at times, yet very few pastors decided to actually leave the ministry in recent years.

A new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found close to 1 percent of evangelical and historically Black Protestant senior pastors step away from the pulpit each year—a rate statistically unchanged from a 2015 Lifeway Research study.

“COVID-19 was neither a small nor short-lived stressor for pastors,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Many have speculated that pastors have been opting out of the pastorate as a result. That is not the case. They are remaining faithful to the calling at levels similar to those seen before the pandemic.” [Read more…]

LONG DAYS FOR LEADERS

February 17, 2021

Pastors express ‘decision fatigue’ and ‘ministerial frustration’ as COVID-19 pandemic lingers

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Members listen to Pastor Richard Bray’s sermon via an FM transmitter while sitting in their cars in the parking lot of Rock Hill Baptist Church in Lexington, Tenn., in April 2020.

LEXINGTON — For the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Rock Hill Baptist Church in rural west Tennessee was resuming onsite worship. Then, Pastor Richard Bray was exposed to the virus and the church had to transition once again to remote worship while Bray waited weeks for his test results.

Bray became a one-man worship service team – preaching, leading music with his guitar, recording the service on his phone, handling the sound equipment, broadcasting the service via an FM transmitter to worshipers who listened in their cars in the parking lot, and uploading videos to YouTube, Facebook and the church website after service ended. That was his routine from mid-July to mid-September.

“I think I was tired, just physically and mentally,” Bray said months later. “Tired of dealing with all the issues, the stress of COVID, the stress of trying to do the right thing, the stress of the church members who see things differently than you do. It does take its toll.”

Joe Wright addresses the struggles of many pastors as executive director of the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network designed to serve about 83 percent of Southern Baptist churches. [Read more…]

CARING FOR THE LORD’S SHEPHERDS

November 9, 2020

By Randy C. Davis
President & executive director, TBMB

An effective shepherd loves, leads and cares for the flock that God entrusted to him.

But who cares for the shepherd?

I love and appreciate pastors and have a genuine concern for their care. My deep appreciation for pastors is birthed out of three-and-a-half decades of walking in their shoes. I’ve been there, done that and was blessed with a lot more than a t-shirt.

But my burden for the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical concern of pastors has profoundly increased over the past three-to-four years as we’ve heard about so many pastors who have lost their ministries or taken their own lives. Seeing this, and intimately knowing the trenches in which pastors labor, is the genesis of concern we at the TBMB have for their overall health. Concern fueled action and I’m pleased to announce the launch of Shepherd Care. [Read more…]

Pastors express ‘decision fatigue’ and ‘ministerial frustration’ as COVID-19 pandemic lingers

Recent Posts

Tags

Categories