What Churches Really Want

This morning I was perusing our state Baptist newspaper and worked my way to the classifieds section to get a quick check of the available ministry positions across our state. I don't read the classifieds because I'm disgruntled or upwardly mobile or afraid I'm about to need a new job -- I do it because this is my line of work and I like to check the pulse of where jobs like the one I have are headed.

There were the typical bi-vocational ads, mostly for youth and music positions (bi-vocational employment is what most folks call a part-time job; others might call it ministerial moonlighting). Most pastors who are under, say, 50, have cut their teeth working in bi-vocational roles, and we understand the joys and the pitfalls of part-time ministry.

For my own part, part-time music ministry was a great experience: every Sunday I was able to lead people into the presence of God through our common experience of praise. This was a joy for me, something I looked forward to each week. Other pastors started out in more difficult areas such as youth ministry, which is usually a much harsher experience. The average youth pastor stays at a church for about 18 months, as a toxic mixture of high expectations and low appreciation (see: financial compensation) tends to lead to quick burnout.

But we're beginning to see something more curious building lately across professional (forgive me as I call a spade a spade, Bro. Piper) ministry: full-time pastors are fading out, burning out, and heading for the exits at alarming rates. In seminary we learned that 50% of us would quit ministry within 3 years of leaving the school. Can you imagine how much of a public crisis it would be if those numbers carried over to graduates of law schools or medical schools?

And I'm not sure my denomination has ever commissioned a study on full-time pastoral stays lately - and they probably don't want to do so - but I've read and heard about some surveys which show that the average pastor remains at a church for merely 3 years. That is shockingly low, and is yet another symptom of our changing cultural ethos impacting the church.

But why is this the case? This brings me back to the classifieds of the Baptist paper. One specifically caught my eye:

"...a small rural, traditional Southern Baptist church...is seeking a full-time pastor-wife team, age 35-55, married with children, college graduate with Baptist seminary courses desirable, 5-plus years of experience in preaching, pastoral care and administration with a vision for growth."

Such a wish list would be kind of funny it weren't such a strikingly honest portrayal of every pastor search committee's desires in the history of pastor search committees. Let's briefly consider the highlights...

Churches Really Want to Employ Both the Husband and the Wife as a Package Deal
You're only gonna get compensated for one employee in the household, mind you, but churches hire married men with the expectation that their wives will get seriously involved in the inner-workings of the church. This includes volunteering in the nursery, working with the children's church, and greeting visitors...all while also being a visible part of public worship (double points if she can play the organ). She must be able to teach VBS, lead a ladies' prayer circle, and take criticism with a pleasant smile.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give to young ministers who are going before a search committee is to take your wife with you. With the possible exception of politics, there is no other comparable field where your spouse is as important to procuring employment as in the ministry.

Churches Really Want Middle-Aged Pastors
Congregations desire that sweet stretch of time between too young and too old. You get stuck with a pastor too young and you have to grow with him. That can be trying at times for congregations; all pastors make mistakes...young pastors make a lot of mistakes. On the other hand, you get stuck with the man who has grown old in the ministry, and you might be led to believe that your church will be unattractive to visitors and young families.

As full-time ministry positions dwindle, the field will become even more crowded with older men (even now fewer than 50% of Alabama Baptist churches have even one full-time staff member to begin with). As a result, full retirement will become increasingly rare. I recently saw that a man in his mid-70s left our state missionary board after 50+ years in ministry. In his last column to Alabama Baptists, he reassured us that we shouldn't worry about him; he has a nice nest egg to live on during his sunset years. That's great for him...but most of us under 60 won't have the same luxury. This will mean that middle-aged men will become even more desirable, and the young will be battling the old for the very few full-time positions which remain.

Churches Really Want the Pastor to Have Kids at Home
As a new father, I can attest that many mysteries become more understandable once you become responsible for a family. Fathers teach their children, but children have a strange way of also teaching their fathers. Having children tends to make you more patient, understanding, and wise. I imagine it also makes the pastor more likeable to guests and visitors who have kids. It gives more of the kind of homespun sermon illustration material which many congregants love to hear. And, yes, often times a new pastor with three kids will incidentally grow the children or youth departments by leaps and bounds.

But, let's face it, having children also places a burden on the pastor's time and energy. I wish churches could understand this: the finest pastor out there will have you as his third priority in life behind his God and his family. If he has children in the home, the gap between second and third place should be Grand Canyon-like. As with many things in life, desiring to have a pastoral leader committed to his wife and children will likely be a mixed bag. There will be plenty of sour along with the sweet for both the church and the pastor's family.

Churches Really Want a Pastor Who is Educated
I recently sat down with a young man who feels called into the ministry. I simply asked him, "What do you want to do in ministry?" Full-time senior pastor. "So where are you going to seminary?" Hadn't really thought about it being necessary; maybe to an online school. I paused for a second and said, "Listen, the most important ministerial decision you will make is where you go to seminary. Don't take it lightly, and don't settle for online courses when you can actually grow with others -- you know, that's what a seminary is...a place of growth. Besides, there was a day when a young man with a calling and giftedness could get his foot in the door of a church and become senior pastor without a formal education...those days are as gone as rotorary telephones. Go to seminary."

I've learned in a short amount of time that people who love Jesus also love to learn about Scripture. The least a church can ask out of its pastor is for him to be a competent and educated minister. Soul care is every bit as important as physical care, and we expect our physicians to be well-educated and committed to growing in their knowledge. Pastors must do the same.

Churches Really Want a Pastor Who Can Do it All
Churches want a pastor who has years of experience in preaching, counseling, managing, and casting visions. I don't slight this church above for listing these things out one-by-one. I credit them for being honest. Churches don't want their pastors to wear many hats, but to wear one giant hat which would thoroughly engulf any man who was not divinely set apart for such a task.

I recently had a week where I spent over 70 hours at the church in six days. One of those days began at 3am and concluded at 9:30pm. That day included every single aspect listed in the advertisement: preaching preparation, counseling a grieving family, administrating typical church business, and crafting an ongoing vision with the deacon board. While you don't have to be an expert at everything to make it in the ministry, you do have to be proficient at a lot of tasks, many of which go unnoticed by the congregation. Ministers become accustomed to demanding expectations of our time, talents, and efforts while being able to handle criticism and suggestions about the things we should be doing.

So why is there so much pastoral burnout? Ministry is demanding and difficult. As I tell folks, there are weeks which are a breeze...then there are weeks which are grueling. And usually the grueling weeks were not planned that way, but happen because of the naturally fluid nature of ministry. Local church expectations of ministers often threaten the pastor's home life and personal walk with the Lord. All leaders - spiritual or otherwise - face this type of challenge.

But ministry leadership has one key distinction when compared with other types of professional leadership, and I believe it is the #1 reason for pastoral burnout: compensation. No one called of God goes into ministry for the money, but they do anticipate that the congregation will support their family. As offerings dry up and churches cut back, the minister's modest salary and benefits become a topic of conversation around dinner tables and Facebook messages. And then the pastor wonders: is it worth it?

The days of financial security has concluded for most ministers; a conclusion which coincides with much higher pastoral demands and fewer available positions. During my seminary years I had friends in the law and pharmacy schools...many of them are now earning six-figure incomes, while most of my seminary buddies have yet to find a church to minister at on a full-time basis. Some of the few who are full-time are struggling in different ways. They are likely wondering: is it worth it?

Praise God it is worth it, and while the financial security of today is evaporating, the treasures are still being laid up in heaven. Hopefully I can write more about this side of ministry before next July.

Lessons from a Deer

Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:6)


My relatively short drive into work each morning is rarely boring, and today was no different. Just as I was turning the corner on a back street that I take, a doe suddenly jumped from behind a bush and out into the road. I slammed on the brakes while quickly thinking, I’ll bet there’s another one nearby.

Sure enough and right on cue another beautiful doe appeared from behind the bush, briefly shocked by her close proximity to my car. She hesitated about whether or not to follow her sister, but decided to run back towards the field from where they came, making what had to be a 10 foot leap into the air over an embankment and a barbed wire fence. While that deer’s initial hesitation was hilariously goofy, her graceful jump which followed reminded me of the agility and power of this skittish creature.

In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple in Jerusalem to pray; that’s what they did everyday. Outside the temple there was a lame beggar, ironically and strategically located at a gate into the complex called “Beautiful”. He was doing what beggars do; that’s what he did everyday.

But this particular day wasn’t like any other day which had come before it, because Acts 2 had happened. As the beggar turned to Peter and John for a charitable contribution, Peter said to him (and I paraphrase), “Give us a minute of your time. We just started and haven’t been able to establish a church benevolence fund yet. No food pantry or clothes closet or job training facilities exist just yet. Here’s all we can offer you today: in the name of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

Not only did the lame beggar walk, but Acts 3:8 tells us that he was walking and leaping and praising God! Luke, the author of Acts, is making a point here: the promises of Isaiah 35:6 were being fulfilled in the presence of those Apostles. Not only had the Messiah come, but he had given a precious gift to the church – the body of Christ – the Holy Spirit. Now the blind might see, the deaf might hear, the mute might talk, and the lame might leap like a deer…graciously, powerfully, and magnificently.

My, how dreams have changed!

On Saturday the president issued a statement reaffirming his personal commitment to ensuring abortion rights. The last line reads as follows:

I hope that we will recommit ourselves more broadly to ensuring that our daughters have the same rights, the same freedoms, and the same opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.

What an antiquated notion! That a fetus stands in the way of a woman being able to fulfill her dreams is the same tired, selfish claptrap which was the battle cry of the liberal feminist of the Baby Boom era. That a sitting president would echo that battle cry reveals an awful lot about the man and his principles.

Sadly, both sides of the debate have largely packaged this issue so cleverly for so long that now far too many see abortion as nothing more than a political issue among so many others. Case in point: last week was the Martin Luther King holiday. What did we hear from the traditional black leaders on this day? Most significantly, anger over students making up missed classes on the holiday due to weather postponements. The week prior, a NYC Public Health report was released which found that 60% of pregnant African American women in New York City had undergone an abortion in 2009. That is eye-popping stuff; that if you're a black fetus in NYC, you only have a 2 in 5 chance of making it to your birthday. Nationally, black women, who make up about 7% of the population, account for nearly 40% of legalized abortions. (The total national average for aborted pregnancies in still over 20% for all races.)

What we're seeing in NYC and throughout the nation is Racial Genocide 101, and what do we hear from black leaders on the subject on the day when we ironically honor a man who most famously conveyed the dreams he had for his children? Nothing. Not a peep. Other than "Jane Roe" herself, Jesse Jackson is probably the most famous flip-flopper on abortion in our nation's history. Roe became convinced of her error in desiring to abort her unborn child; Jackson, meanwhile went from an eloquent defender of the right to life to an ultra politically-motivated man on the wrong side of the aisle to be both pro-life and politically successful. He chose to enmesh himself in the latter, and now he has no moral foundation to even stand upon when speaking about a subject such as the out-of-control abortion rates among minorities in this nation. So instead he talks about kids making up snow days (which, incidentally, he is right about).

It is a shame of the highest proportions. Even conservative statistics concerning legalized abortions in the nation since 1973 show that this national right has now claimed more lives than some of the most liberal estimates of the lives senselessly claimed under the leaderships of people like Mao and Stalin. And where's our president on this? Unequivocally connecting the termination of an unborn child to a woman's "dreams". What a sad departure this type of dream is from the famous dream of the man honored last Monday.

What's Up, Doc?

Undoubtedly most of us are now familiar with the firestorm created by the freshly minted governor, Doctor Robert Bentley, when - on his inauguration day - he gave what is tantamount to an altar call at a famous black church in Montgomery. The fact that I first came upon this news on the front page of Yahoo.com rather than the local newscast is evidence that the national media ate this thing up in a hurry, causing many residents of our state to bemoan the specter of being represented by yet another prominent state politician who not only suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, but who also wants to take advantage of valuable opportunities to cram his brand of fundamentalist mumbo-jumbo down our collective throat hole.

Could it be that Doctor is a dreaded, fundamentalist, evangelical Christian who has actually been listening to and internalizing the messages he's heard throughout his life as a churchgoer? Could he actually believe that Jesus meant it when he claimed that the only way to the Father was through the Son? In other words, that all of humanity can in fact be separated along familial lines based on faith in Jesus Christ? I dunno, maybe the Doc has read through Ephesians and actually believes that true unity comes only through Christ, not through ethnicity or culture or even bloodlines...that blood is, in fact, not thicker than the water of our unique baptism.

So the Huntsville Times had an article the other day which sought to settle the issue by asking local "faith leaders" of their opinion on the uproar. Outside of a strikingly honest assessment by the token Jewish leader, it was the familiar quotes one expects in articles such as these. You can come to your own conclusions, particularly those who might explain to me the reason Weatherly Heights Baptist Church still has anything to do with the Southern Baptist Convention.

And now, just as predictably as the reactions, here came the retraction from GDRB the other day. This is a much bigger slip-up than what he said on Monday, because now it all reeks of politics. I mean, does such an apology (which, to be fair, is one of those non-apology apologies) show that Doctor Governor is placating the media or politicizing his faith? How are we supposed to interpret all this?

I'm afraid that Bentley has learned a valuable lesson of politics which he carefully avoided throughout his peculiarly anonymous state legislative career: namely that when a person in power speaks or takes a stand of consequence, folks tend to listen. When you speak about faith, amplify that tenfold. As a man of faith I hope he'll eventually also come to this conclusion: don't apologize - never, ever! - for presenting the hope of salvation to a captive audience. There are Christians around the world who would be willing to literally give their lives for such an opportunity.

The Inn that Missed Its Chance

Amos R. Wells

(The Landlord speaks, A.D. 28.)

What could be done? The inn was full of folks!
His honor, Marcus Lucius, and his scribes
Who made the census: honorable men
From farthest Galilee, come hitherward
To be enrolled; high ladies and their lords;
The rich, the rabbis, such a noble throng
As Bethlehem had never seen before,
And may not see again. And there they were,
Close herded with their servants, till the inn
Was like a hive at swarming-time, and I
Was fairly crazed among them.

Could I know
That they were so important? Just the two,
No servants, just a workman sort of man,
Leading a donkey, and his wife thereon,
Drooping and pale, - I saw them not myself,
My servants must have driven them away;
But had I seen them, how was I to know?
Were inns to welcome stragglers, up and down
In all our towns from Beersheba to Dan,
Till He should come? And how were men to know?

There was a sign, they say, a heavenly light
Resplendent; but I had no time for stars.
And there were songs of angels in the air
Out on the hills: but how was I to hear
Amid the thousand clamors of an inn?

Of course, if I had known them, who they were,
And who was He that should be born that night, -
For now I learn that they will make Him King,
A second David who will ransom us
From these Philistine Romans, - who but He
That feeds an army with a loaf of bread,
And if a soldiers falls, He touches him
And up he leaps, uninjured? Had I known,
I would have turned the whole inn upside down,
His honor Marcus Lucius, and the rest,
And sent them all to stables, had I known.

So you have seen Him, stranger, and perhaps
Again will see him. Prithee say for me,
I did not know; and if He comes again
As He will surely come, with retinue,
And banners, and an army, tell my Lord
That all my inn is His, to make amends.

Alas! Alas! To miss a chance like that!
This inn that might be chief among them all,
The birthplace of Messiah, - had I known!

Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

I was so shocked when I heard the statistic on the news that I had to research the finding myself to verify. It's true: 212 million Americans participated in Black Friday 2010. That's 212,000,000. That's two out of every three Americans. Take the elderly and the young and others simply incapable of holiday shopping out of the mix and, well, you apparently have a better chance at getting struck by lightning than finding someone who didn't shop on BF 2010.

What's more, it's estimated that we collectively spent $45 billion on BF. My calculator says that means the average shopper spent about $212 -- what's up with that number? -- on that single day alone. To put it in perspective, $212 can buy, what, about 106 Thanksgiving meals at your local soup kitchen? 212 million x 106 meals = feeding the entire world three square meals.

So we're spending a lot on one another this Christmas. We Americans are really, really good at that. It is ingrained in our conscience that Christmas is gifts. Consider: How many times have you been told about some unemployed person in your family or community, "John's been out of work for a couple months now and his bills are piling up. If we don't help him out by purchasing a few gifts, then his kids might not have a Christmas." I'm not denigrating the need for helping John out in that hypothetical situation, but do you see how we've equated gift buying and receiving with a holiday which celebrates the birth of our Lord? Exactly how did we get to that point?

And yet I sit here less than three weeks from the Big Day and I can't help but notice how Christmas seems to have fallen on hard times lately. I'm not talking about ACLU lawsuits over Nativity Scenes (those bullies!) or how insensitive people are for going all Koine on us and substituting X-mas for Christmas. I'm talking about how it suddenly seems that Christmas has lost its luster, even as we turn out in record numbers to the BF sales.

Children for one seem less excited than those of previous generations. After all, the most spoiled generation in world history already tends to be showered with gifts constantly throughout the year. What's the big deal about another day? Adults are in the same category...we're bored. I mean, how many years is the GPS deal going to be pressed on us as a hot holiday gift idea? Just how many tens of millions of cars already come with an unopened or barely used Tom Tom in the glove compartment? Oh sure, for the high-end buyers there is the novelty of 3-D tv. What's next: scratch-and-sniff?

I don't know, maybe I'm just getting older. In fact, I'm confident that my clumsy transition into adulthood has in some way helped to provoke this blog post. But somewhere deep down I believe that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Christmas as we've known it since the mid 20th century. If true, this will create a massive void in the American conscience - as well as a massive paradigm shift for retailers who are already resorting to once-unthinkable measures to stave off their own demise.

What will fill the void? It is rather a question of Who. As we wrestle with so many inevitable changes which are threatening to undo our familiar national psyche and values, might we finally have room for the Lord who was first introduced to the world in a barn because there was no room for Him in an inn? I pray so.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem's home was there found
No room for Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus!
There is room in my heart for Thee.

Just Like Startin' Over...

You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.
- James 4:14

This weekend a lot of attention is being paid to John Lennon, and rightfully so. One can go on and on about the ever-growing impact of Lennon on popular culture. His talents as a musician, song writer, self-promoter, and, especially, as a lyricist are legendary and unequaled in music history. Put it this way: 30 years after her last album, Lady Gaga will not get a Google banner in her honor. Lennon did.

For all of his talent and ingenuity, Lennon lived a life that was filled with neglect and heartache. Abandoned by both his father and, ultimately, mother, Lennon grew up with an aunt in the blue collar, working class town of Liverpool. By all accounts the two celebrities who had the most impact on Lennon during his formative years were James Dean and Elvis Presley. Those two superstars fed the future Beatle's rebellious streak and encouraged the lad to combine music with just enough attitude to become both popular and rich. It worked well, but only after the talented Lennon surrounded himself with other talented musicians and hard working self-promoters.

The ultra-success of Beatlemania ultimately never cured John Lennon's growing sense of disenchantment, and actually seems to have driven him even deeper into the pit. What started out as recreational marijuana use turned into LSD experimentation and a full-blown heroine addiction by the late sixties. While many might argue that drugs made Sgt. Pepper's possible, no one questions that Lennon's creative capabilties began to nosedive by the time he started his use of heroine (see Let It Be).

His marriage to Yoko Ono came about when Lennon's first wife, Cynthia, discovered that the Japanese-American "Conceptual Artist" (whatever that means) had been having an adulterous relationship with John. The Lennon/Ono marriage was rocky from the very start and included periods of hardcore substance abuse, mutual adultery, international controversy, and - lest we forget - more ingenious self-promotion which spanned the first half of the seventies. What lacked during this period for Lennon was any actually good music. So Lennon decided to quit writing music and, legend has it, focus fulltime on rebuilding his relationship with his wife and growing a relationship with his youngest son.

In 1980, after a half decade as a stay at home father, Lennon and Ono released the LP Double Fantasy. Ono's contributions not withstanding, Double Fantasy represents John's best work since Pepper, maybe even Revolver. It is far and away the greatest post-Beatle album by any member of the quartet (All Things Must Pass is a distant #2). Lennon's contributions to Double Fantasy focus on themes such as maturity, forgiveness, family devotion, and fatherly patience...themes which are far more adult oriented than songs about anarchy and class warfare and overblown allusions of a post-religious world. Perhaps these themes from the mind of the aging Lennon were more self-promotion, but perhaps they represent the first indicators of a major cultural shift of the eighties: Baby Boomers growing up and entering reality.

Whatever the case, Lennon's artistic creativity was no longer about fusing youthful rebellion to good music as much as fusing a truer and deeper sense of self-understanding to really good music. Or so one might imagine from those few tracks. Merely a month after the release of Double Fantasy, Lennon was shot dead. Just as he began talking about "Starting Over," his precarious life ended at age 40. Saturday will be his 70th birthday.