Most pastors can point to a specific time or setting in which they received a call to pastoral ministry. Often they pursued the calling despite the warnings of others. They believed this calling was from God, and they chose to follow it. Their preparation typically has involved years of education and continued development. The journey began as a response to a personal call.As I reflect on 35 years of ministry, I realize that many of my former colleagues are no longer pastors. Somewhere along the line, they left their "calling" and undertook a different path for their lives. Reflecting on my friends who used to be pastors, I realize that they are now a majority. Those, like me, who have stayed in ministry are actually the minority. The attrition rate has been high and the cost to souls is astronomical.
For some pastors, leaving the pastorate was the result of assuming that their calling was permanent and they were therefore protected. They neglected the spiritual disciplines or spiritual integrity needed to continue in ministry. They now realize that they should have given more attention to their own Christian development. They know now that ministry depends on moral purity.
The majority of my acquaintances, however, simply encountered such turmoil and situational conflict that they felt they could not continue to pastor. Too often, they had no friend or accountability group to share their pain or provide emotional or spiritual support. Many well-meaning Christians in their congregations ignored the signs of "battle fatigue." Instead, congregations overwhelmed my pastor friends with unrealistic expectations, negative criticism and misplaced anger. Some congregations even assumed the perfect pastor was "out there," so their fallible pastor was terminated.
Could these tragic results have been avoided? If the answer is "yes," then both clergy and laity share the responsibility. The results might have been different if someone named Barnabas had cared enough to voice a few words of encouragement or provided some spiritual mentoring.
THE ABOVE WAS SHARED ANONYMOUSLY BY A PRESBYTERIAN PASTOR AND READER OF OUR BLOG
I am visiting Sunbury Court and writing an article on the Healing Waters I found here... I'm convinced they will flow out to many visitor friends of the blog as well.
Blessings, Sven
1 comment:
I question whether Desertion or Resignation are the only ways of describing the change of direction of denominational pastors. Do these 2 states really describe the change of heart say of Calvin, Knox, Wesley or Booth? The writer of this article says of one time pastors that "Somewhere along the line, they left their "calling" and undertook a different path for their lives."
This is a very narrow view of 'calling'. Alistair McGrath, the reformed theologian writes, "Originally, vocation was a term used only for those who were called to monastic life; one who had a vocation was one who was called by God to do religious work. The Reformation, in rejecting monasticism, rejected this idea of vocation, and so came to see vocation not as a calling to religious life, but the work one is called to do in the secular sphere. “The idea of ‘calling’ was fundamentally redefined: no longer was it about being called to serve God by leaving the world; it was now about serving God in the world”. Calvinism continued with this, by providing an understanding that work was “a dignified and glorious means of praising and affirming God in and through his creation while adding further to its well-being”
Is there another word we could add to the notion of calling; redirected?
Whilst I acknowledge the poor quality of pastoring the pastor within most denominations, there is a sense in which, in spite of the lack of such compassion and care, a number of former pastors continue to follow their calling, albeit in a manner and mode that may not meet the status quo or establish norm.
It is interesting to note that Charles Wesley's hymn that contains the words - To serve the present age my calling to fulfil - was inspired by Matthew Henry's commentary on Leviticus and that this was no doubt inspired by the treatment of his father, Philip Henry by the established church. In faithfully following his calling, Philip lost his living as a clergyman due to his preaching what he saw as the truth. Later imprisoned for his subversive activities, it was not for another 10 years that he was able to continue to follow his ministry. His inability to continue his ministry is not to say that he did not continue to following his calling.
Rev Paul Collings BTh
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