Pastor Expectations

Several years ago Gary McIntosh and Robert Edmondson wrote a great book, It Only Hurts on Monday: Why Pastors Quit and What You Can Do about It. It is really a book for churches to help their pastors. In the book they quote Ruth Truman who sums up church expectations of their pastor:

"There is no job on earth that expects a man to work every possible waking moment, to comfort the sick and dying, to be the tower of strength for the bereaved and/or the anxious bridegroom, to counsel the maritally afflicted, to pray at a moment's notice, to be all-wise in the problems of child care and in-family jousting, to administer a large budget, to raise money for loan payments without issuing bonds, to run a church program efficiently with an all-volunteer staff that serves when it feels like it, to act as building and grounds maintenance supervisor, to prepare miraculously and preach eloquently, to dress meticulously but not too well, to be a saint in all his interpersonal relationships with language that even your grandmother couldn't question, to love his children and see that they are raised in an exemplary manner, to keep his own marriage and personal habits above question, to be never grossly in debt, and to set a pattern of living that all can follow in personal faith and spiritual development. In case you've forgotten what I am talking about, the above is the job description in abbreviated form for the 20th century ( and I would add the 21st century) Man of God, commonly known as minister."

No man can live up to these kinds of expectations, yet these are the expectations of the church. When these expectations aren't met, then forced termination is around the corner. Even if there is no official church vote, the pastor feels forced out.

What can be done? Primarily, the church must have a more sane idea of who a pastor is and what he is called to do. A pastor is no more than just a human being, with the same weaknesses everyone else has. The pastor is called to lead the church "spiritually." He is to preach, pray, and bear witness of the Good News of Christ. He will have his ministerial strengths and weaknesses. Not everyone is a good administrator. Not everyone is a great pulpiteer. A church must ask, "What kind of man does God have in mind to lead us?" Find that man and allow him to minister within his strengths and then the church must do the rest. God has gifted staff members and lay people who make up for the weaknesses the pastor will naturally have. Finally, the church must not expect any more from the pastor than they do themselves. God expects faithfulness from all of us.

That's just a paragraph but it's a start to finding a more healthy relationship between church and pastor.