Posts I've Appreciated this Week

Chasing the Wind brings us Once Saved, Always Saved. I found it good reading. :)

Light along the Journey asks an important question in Beauty and Waste.

I liked what Amanda's dad had to say here. :)

This post over at Tidbits and Treasures I liked as well. So...what animals are in your church? Or is your church fortunate enough not to have them all. :)

Voice of Vision gives us The Rain Song. I liked this quote:

Friends, it is about the power to withstand the storm, not the power to withdraw the storm. Christianity, from the sanctification side, is less about being an irresistible force, and more about being an immovable object.

Holly at The Pastor's Family pointed my way to Beauty and Depravity, which pointed me to MondayMorningInsight.

At Beauty and Depravity I saw these statistics:

• 80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with spouse and that ministry has a negative effect on their family.
• 40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner once a month.
• 33% say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.
• 75% report they’ve had significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.
• 58% of pastors indicate that their spouse needs to work either part time or full time to supplement the family income.
• 56% of pastors’ wives say they have no close friends.
• Pastors who work fewer than 50 hrs/week are 35% more likely to be terminated.
• 40% of pastors considered leaving the pastorate in the past three months.
• 48% of them think their work is hazardous to their family’s well being.
• 45.5% will experience burnout or depression that will make them leave their jobs
• 70% say their self-esteem is lower now than when they started their position
• They have the 2nd highest divorce rate among professions.

MondayMorningInsight tells us this:

Pastors need encouragement. And if no one in the church is assigned to nurture, affirm and prevent burnout for the pastor, then no one will. When they get in trouble, who can they turn to? ...... Congregations expect pastors to wear too many hats: CEO, therapist, scholar, teacher, administrator, accountant, fund-raiser, friend of children, preacher, spiritual leader, wedding/funeral presider and house blesser.

Church members expect their pastor to be on call seven days a week; few churches give their pastor two full days off, thereby losing 52 days of rest that most people relish. They work on holidays — Christmas Eve, Easter and Thanksgiving — and never have a three-day weekend. My note: don't forget new years!

People expect them to have perfect marriages and kids and drive cars and live in homes that are acceptable. ......The startling fact is that most pastors are lonely and feel their self-esteem has been lessened, not increased, the longer they are pastors.

So give your pastors a hug, a big salary increase, more time off, a pat on the back, and help them. They need it..

Sobering thoughts. So....what can you do for your Pastor today?