Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 25

When You’re Starting on Empty: How to Start a New Year with Little To Give

As the calendar turns, and a new year unfolds before us, leaders will often find themselves sorting through an inbox of messages around goal setting, how to cast the perfect vision for the new year and five quick steps to a ‘successful’ impact. These are not bad and are often helpful in sparking passion, precision–and most importantly, purpose into one’s plans. 

But what if you are starting the year in a spot that is more from a weary and questioning posture than a hopeful and expectant one? The responsibilities of guiding, inspiring, and nurturing others can be overwhelming, especially when faced with personal doubts, discouragement, and hesitancy about the path ahead. 

If you’re starting this year on empty, take heart—you’re in good company. There are steps you can take to refuel, reevaluate, and renew your sense of purpose in ministry.

1. Look Where God is Working:

To overcome the challenges of a new year, start by shifting your focus from your own uncertainties to where God is already at work. Take time to pray and look for places where God is blessing and bringing about new life. It could be a small discipleship group engaged in evangelism and sharing the gospel, or maybe a next-gen ministry connecting generations and investing in developing disciples. Think about where you’ve seen God’s impact, both in your personal life and ministry. Often, God is working in specific areas, and we can be too busy to notice.

2. Reflect on God’s Faithfulness:

In moments of doubt, it’s crucial to look back and remember God’s faithfulness. Reflect on the ways He has provided, guided, and sustained you through previous challenges. Growth happens more in our challenges than in our victories. Remind yourself of the difficult steps you resiliently took forward, and journal through the specific lessons that you learned. We all have leadership lessons that we can tuck in our pockets from failures or how we should have done things differently. But more than that, what lessons did you learn about God’s heart, care, and faithfulness? These lessons are invaluable and will be built upon in the days ahead. This reflection not only builds your faith, but also equips you with the strength to face the uncertainties that lie ahead.

3. Make a Commitment to Healthy Rhythms:

If you are starting from a place of burnout, the healthiest step you can take is in your own self-leadership. Ministry leaders are often so busy caring for others, making decisions, and moving things forward, that they neglect their own well-being. This year, commit to establishing and maintaining healthy rhythms in your life. Prioritize silence and solitude, set boundaries around your work hours and family life, and ensure that you are spending time in the Word and community–not just for your position but for nurturing your relationship with your Heavenly Father. 

4. Embrace Something New:

To take your leadership to the next level, consider doing something new. Hire a coach or mentor who can provide guidance and support tailored to your specific needs. Sign up for a Church Equip course that will help you grow in an area you haven’t studied before or will help refresh new perspectives and old truths you may have forgotten. Another great step would be to join our online community, Church Answers Central, which connects you to incredible leaders all across the globe for ministry insights and encouragement. Learning and digging deeper can bring fresh perspectives and renewed enthusiasm to your ministry.

You Are Not Alone

Reflecting on the conversations of this past year, it’s evident that many leaders, including myself, have felt the weight and impact of the challenges in recent times.

Remember, the journey of ministry doesn’t have to be a solitary one. By turning to God, reflecting on His faithfulness, establishing healthy rhythms, and embracing new opportunities for personal and professional growth, you can enter the new year well-prepared to lead with faith and purpose. 

May this upcoming year become a season of transformation, not only for you, but also for the people you serve.

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Best-Selling Bible Translations: The Breathtaking Decline of the King James Version

It is a fascinating journey to watch the trends of Bible translations, particularly the sales and presumed popularity of each translation. These trends often reflect cultural shifts, changes in religious practice, and the evolving language needs of Bible readers. For sales and rankings, we used the information of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). The ECPA gets its data from Circana Bookscan which receives sales information from reporting retailers. 

Neither ECPA nor Church Answers imply that the reporting of this information to be an endorsement of any one translation. But I will offer my commentary specifically on the King James Version (KJV). 

First, let’s look at the sales rankings of the top ten translations for 2021 and 2022. ECPA offers monthly rankings but, for the purpose of this analysis, I will use full-year data. I include a brief description of each translation. 

2022 Rankings (2021 in parentheses)

1. New International

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10 Fresh Pastoral Prayers for the New Year

Before you launch your New Year ministry plan, begin with prayer. How might you pray to start the year?

Passion for people, not numbers. You should track your numbers and know your metrics. Yes, each number represents a person. I get it. But you don’t shepherd numbers. If you struggle with caring more about numbers than people, now is an excellent time to take a new posture. Pray God gives you this passion. A filling of the Holy Spirit over comfort with nostalgia. I have a deep love for the sanctuary room. Even when I’m alone, I still enjoy the comforting presence of the room. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, but our prayers should be first for a filling of the Holy Spirit. Outward movement rather than an inward bent. Pray your church has a desire to reach outward rather than inward. Ask God to give your church a wake-up call for evangelism.Compassion for the lonely. Some people need more time alone, but isolation is never beneficial. Pray for those who are experiencing loneliness. Pray that your church shows compassion. New avenues for hospitality. Many churches believe they are friendly, but too few demonstrate genuine hospitality. The problem is friendliness is often directed internally. Members are kind and pleasant with each other and overlook guests. You can be nice to someone without showing hospitality. Hospitality involves generosity and sacrifice with outsiders.Strength for the elderly. Older generations come to church more frequently. Ask God to allow them to continue this pattern of faithfulness.  Readiness for spiritual warfare. The local church is the front line of ministry. In the battle against the spiritual forces of evil, the church is the trench. Christ’s bride is dug in, charged up, and ready to die for the freedom of souls. While there is no beauty in warfare (spiritual or otherwise), the battling bride is a gorgeous organism. Sensitivity with guests. Inevitably, the Holy Spirit will prompt people to show up for the first time. These guests could be desperate for spiritual guidance, longing for connection, or bringing a long list of questions for God. Pray for extra sensitivity with those who bravely approach your campus for the first time. Graciousness with doubt and questions. A crisis will cause people to question their beliefs. Pray for graciousness for those seeking God, even during a season of doubt. Mental, spiritual, and emotional health for church leaders. Pastors and other church leaders have faced many obstacles in the last few years. Ask God to provide ways for people to seek help and maintain health. 

I am sure you are preparing for an excellent start to the year, but don’t forget to pray! God’s plan for the church always includes prayer. 

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10 True-False Statements on the State of Churches and Denominations in America

This week we will have a major announcement about Church Answers taking a bigger step into the world of Christian and church research. Stay tuned for it.

In the meantime, let’s look at ten statements connected with current research on Christianity, churches, and denominations. Before you look at the answers, see how many you get correctly.

1. American non-denominational churches combined are larger than all mainline denominations combined.

2. The biggest contributor to church attendance decline can best be explained by the number of people who have joined the “Nones” (those who say they have no religious preference).

3. The median average worship attendance of churches in America is 90.

4. Over 20 percent of the regular participants in a church in the United States are under the age of 18.

5. Over 5,000 congregations left the United Methodist denomination in 2023 alone.

6. Over two-thirds of the active participants in churches are female.

7. Since the late 1980s to today, two denominations have grown, the Assemblies of God and the Presbyterian Church of America.

8. The decline in the Southern Baptist Convention in terms of numbers of members is the largest in the history of denominations in America.

9. Nearly seven of ten active church members live within 15 minutes of their church.

10. The median tenure of a solo/lead/senior pastor In America is just over three years.

While you may have been tempted to look at the answers below, I wonder how many you got right if you did not peek. Here are the answers:

1. True. Non-denominational church members account for 13% of American adults, more than all mainline denominations combined. (Ryan Burge: graphsaboutreligion.com)

2. False. For certain, the Nones have grown in number significantly. Depending on your research source, they account for about 30% of people in America. That’s a big number! While some church participants have moved into the None category (no religious preference), the greatest decline comes from the decreasing attendance frequency of church members. (ChurchAnswers.com, Ryan Burge: graphsaboutreligion.com)

3. False. The median average worship attendance is 65. (faithcommunitiestoday.org, the FACT 2020 Study)

4. True. 22.7% of church participants are under the age of 18. (faithcommunitiestoday.org, the FACT 2020 Study)

5. True. 5,643 congregations left the United Methodist Church in 2023 alone. (umnews.org)

6. False. But females do account for a majority (56%) of active participants in churches. (faithcommunitiestoday.org, the FACT 2020 Study)

7. True. But the Assemblies of God growth rate continues to decrease. It is near zero today. The Presbyterian Church of America has grown, but it remains a relatively small denomination with fewer than 400,000 members. (Ryan Burge: graphsaboutreligion.com)

8. True. The Southern Baptist Convention lost 1.32 million members in just three years (2020 to 2022), more than any denomination in history for such a short period. However, with over 5,600 disaffiliations in 2023 alone, the United Methodist Church will also have a dramatic decline in membership. (Ryan Burge: graphsaboutreligion.com, umnews.org)

9. True. 68% of church members live within 15 minutes of their congregations location. (faithcommunitiestoday.org, the FACT 2020 Study)

10. False. The median tenure is 7 years. (faithcommunitiestoday.org, the FACT 2020 Study)

I would love to hear your perspectives on these data points. Did any of the ten statements surprise you? What do these numbers tell you about the state of churches and Christianity in America today?

Let me hear from you.

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Staying Put: The Increasing Significance (and Growing Desire) of Longer-Term Pastorates

During the 1800s frontier era of church expansion in the United States, a one-year contract to pastor a church was relatively common. If the church liked the pastor, an extension might be granted for another year but not much beyond. As America expanded westward, communities grew, and new churches popped up. Moving on after a couple of years was commonplace.

I assume most people don’t want to return to the frontier era of church methodology. Indoor plumbing, internet access, and long-tenured pastors are good to have. Even though this one-and-two-year cycle of pastors no longer happens formally, the culture of short-tenured pastors remains in many churches. But a shift is beginning to occur. Longer-tenured pastors are more critical than ever, and more of them want to stay at their churches longer.

The Life Cycle of a Pastor and the Dangerous Fourth Year

In the post-pandemic era, the life cycle of a pastor has shifted. The honeymoon phase is shorter, and the conflict phase is longer, peaking for most pastors around the fourth year. Before the pandemic, pastors could expect the pace of growth to pick up around year five, but now growth may not occur until year seven.

Honeymoon: First 6 Months. This phase is much shorter than before as churches are less healthy and perhaps feel more urgent.Challenges and Conflict: 6 Months to 4 Years. Not every pastor will experience intense conflict during this phase, but many will have ongoing challenges.  Acceptance and Stability: Year 4 to Year 7. What was once a period of growth in the past has now become a season of stability.Inflection Point: Year 7 to Year 10. If growth occurs, it is now more likely to happen in the seventh year. However, the previous period of stability can also push the church into a slow decline, especially if the pastor is not leading.Year 10 and Beyond. Hopefully, more pastors will stay in a church for ten years or more. This phase will likely produce steady growth for many churches, but much remains unknown.

The bottom line is pastors must stay longer to make progress at churches. What once could be done in five years now takes at least seven years.

Why Long-Term Pastor Tenure is Important

Pastor tenure is longer now than in the past, but the reason is not what most expect. A typical pastor today is approaching retirement age and is not likely to make a move. The median age of a pastor is around 60 years old. Older pastors are not themselves the problem. They bring much wisdom and experience into the profession. Frankly, the real issue is there are not enough younger pastors to replace a large group of retiring Baby Boomer pastors.

In general, most churches will benefit from long-tenured pastors. Given the choice of a new pastor every year or one that endures for twenty-five years, most congregants will—and should—choose the latter over the former. Even in denominations with an appointment system, a longer-term tenure is typically better than a shorter-term tenure. A deeper look at long-term tenure uncovers some notable themes.

There is a positive correlation between church health and long-term tenure. As a rule, healthier churches tend to have pastors with longer tenures. Conversely, less healthy churches tend to cycle through pastors quickly. It’s difficult to know the cause. Does short tenure produce unhealthiness? Or does the unhealthy church push out pastors? Though we can’t know for sure, it’s probably a combination of both.

Building solid relationships takes years, not months. People may talk about their spouse as “love at first sight,” but I’ve never heard anyone say that about a pastor. Quite frankly, in this environment of short tenures, it takes much longer to build trust within a congregation.

Every transition is jarring. Every new pastor is the “newest member” for a season. When you have a consistent stream of “new member leaders,” the culture for those who remain can become disjointed. Each new pastor brings a new vision and a new personality. Both are jarring. A church with a new direction from a new leader every few years will become desensitized to a compelling vision. Each new leader brings a new turn. When congregants turn every couple of years, they will feel like they are going in circles.

Community assimilation takes longer than church assimilation. Becoming part of the church culture is one thing. A level of built-in acceptance exists for the new pastor. Becoming part of the culture in the local community is an entirely different thing. For pastors, community assimilation can take longer than church assimilation. When the church culture is markedly different from the community culture, assimilation is even more complicated. For example, if you are pastoring a traditional church in a college town, then the “town and gown” phenomenon can be distinct. The church, community, and college cultures may all be quite separate. The pastor’s job is to connect them, and this connection can take a considerable amount of time.

Remember, a new pastor is not a silver bullet to church growth. One person alone cannot change the direction of the church. Over a long tenure, however, a pastor can equip many people to shape the church’s culture to focus more on the Great Commission.

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give Your Pastor

I know. It’s Christmas day already. 

You’ve likely given all of the gifts you planned to give. You might have received a few gifts yourself.

Still, this gift idea for your pastor is worthy of being a bit late. I can almost promise you that pastors will be thrilled when you present the gift to them. It really doesn’t matter that it didn’t arrive on Christmas day.

I received this gift when I was a pastor. That was many years ago, but I still remember it with joy to this very day. It is truly the gift that kept on giving.

It’s time to unwrap this gift for you to view. Just what is it?

The Greatest Gift for Pastors

The gift is simply a commitment to pray for your pastor, but one of the most effective ways to deliver the gift is with three key components.

1. A stated written commitment to pray. I encourage you to write your commitment to your pastor. Frankly, if you simply verbalize it, the commitment will likely wane at best and be forgotten at worst. So, get ready to write that email. Even better, give your pastor a handwritten letter and commitment. That takes a bit more effort, and the act of writing it will serve as a reminder in your mind.

2. A commitment for a specified number of days. Of course, you might desire to pray for your pastors every day. I admire your commitment and love for them. But the commitment really does work better if it has a defined time. Open-ended commitments to pray for every day tend to wane and then disappear over time. I recommend you try a 30-day commitment. You can always do it again if you are led and motivated to do so.

3. Asking other church members to join you. Think about four or five other church members you would feel comfortable asking to join you in a 30-day commitment to pray for your pastor. If five of you pray for your pastor for 30 days, you have offered 150 days of prayer! Your pastor will be incredibly encouraged to hear about this commitment!

The Letter

I don’t presume to know how to write this letter gift any better than you do. But, in case you need a template, here is something to consider:

Pastor –

I have a gift for you. It is a gift of prayer. In fact, five of us in the church have committed to pray for you for 30 consecutive days. In one month, we will have offered 150 prayers for you (and your family).

Please know that we love you. Though we might take your sacrifices for granted at times, we desire to be more intentional in supporting you, particularly by praying for you.

We will let you know how our prayer time went at the end of 30 days. I do hope you sense this committed time of prayer as the Holy Spirit works in your life.

By the way, we hope that this 30-day commitment to pray will be the first of many.

My Own Plan

I will give this gift to my pastor after Christmas, around the first of the year. I plan to ask ten church members to join me.

I wrote a book for this specific purpose. It is a 30-day journey to pray for your pastor. The book has a simple name, When the People Pray. Here is a link to the book if you want to get it for yourself and others.

Merry Christmas, pastors! You sacrifice for your church members every day. I hope and pray we can create a prayer movement to intercede for you for years to come.

It would indeed be a gift you will never forget.

 

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4 Big Reasons Why Pastors Lack Work-Life Balance

Pastors are a notorious bunch when it comes to work.

Church members have high expectations. The hours are long. Some weeks, you have no option but to grind it out for 70 hours. An occasional all-nighter is to be expected. But these situations should be rare, not the norm. Why do too few pastors strike a balance? Four major reasons exist.

The Always-On Phenomenon. Most churches expect pastors to be on call 24/7. Even though late-night phone calls don’t happen often, many pastors feel like they’re always on. And that creates a level of tension. Social media has exacerbated this phenomenon. Many people expect (unrealistically) instantaneous answers via Twitter, Facebook, and text. Defining “work” is problematic when the “off” button does not exist.The Jack-of-All-Trades Expectations. The call to pastoral ministry is one of diversity. In one hour, you’re the preacher. In the next, you’re the counselor. And in another, you’re the plumber. In any given week, someone is upset at the pastor for not meeting expectations, which means that person believes the pastor did not correctly allocate work hours.No Week Is Typical. No one calls the pastor and says, “Today was just a typical day for me. I wanted you to know that.” There’s usually a fire to put out or a crisis to manage in someone’s life. Pastors experience the best of people and the worst of people. At funerals, it’s the best of people. At weddings, it’s the worst of people. Pastors rarely see people in the normalcy of life. Every week is different, so defining and managing work hours is difficult.The Blurriness of Ministry and Life. When does work end and fun begin? Does a dinner with a new church family count as work or fun? Is it work or pleasure if you intentionally attend a high school ball game to interact with church members and the community? Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell because both can be true simultaneously. Pastors often struggle with work hours because of the blurred lines between ministry and life. More often than not, the two are inseparable.

The Productivity Problem

In the 19th century, industry leaders learned through trial and error that fewer hours worked can increase overall productivity. Organized labor helped reduce workdays to 8 to 10 hours. Surprisingly, industrial output increased despite the fewer total hours worked by laborers.

Several studies demonstrate that longer hours do not equate to more productivity over time. One study shows a diminishing return of hours worked. As people work more hours, those hours become less and less productive. Where is the tipping point?

Workweek productivity falls after about 50 hours and crashes after 55 hours. You are no more productive at 70 hours per week regularly than at 55 hours. In fact, some studies go even further, proposing that habitually overworked people decline in discernment and focus on increasingly meaningless tasks. For pastors, this productivity problem means consistently long weeks make you a worse shepherd. Obviously, everyone has a few weeks a year in which many hours are required. Just ask any children’s minister during VBS week. The fall in productivity applies to those who are working long hours every week of the year. If every week for you is over 55 hours, you’re likely not nearly as productive as you could be.

How Many Hours Per Week Do Pastors Work?

Most pastors work long hours. In a survey of 1,000 pastors, 65% indicated they worked 50 or more hours per week. The median number of hours a senior pastor works is 55 hours per week. Many pastors are right at the point of unproductivity, if not over the line.

Every pastor has experienced a few hell weeks. It’s part of ministry. However, numerous studies point to the physiological signs of burnout. What are the key signals? You can’t concentrate. You are mentally exhausted, even in the mornings. You always have too much to do and feel guilty about not accomplishing it all. “I’m sorry, but I’m overloaded right now” is a typical apology in the home. Sickness becomes the norm. You seem to catch a cold almost every month. When your life revolves around your to-do list, you will likely hate the list and your life.

Work hard for your church. It’s biblical! But you cannot minister effectively if you’re fried. Most pastors struggle with balance. Pastors should model spiritual disciplines for their churches. Work-life balance is a vital part of living in a way that glorifies God.

Do you need to navigate how to manage your hours better? You can get help from Church Answers. We have a few spots open in our Platinum Coaching Group. You can learn more about it here.

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They Told Me Rather Than Teach Me

I was a new believer, and my pastor gave me my first Bible ever—a red, hardback King James Version award Bible. “You need to read this book,” he told me. “It’s God’s Word.” 

I was 13 years old at the time, and I had never read any of the Bible. My pastor had told me I needed to, though, so I jumped at the opportunity. I dug into a book I knew nothing about. 

The book of Genesis was fascinating to me because it was all new. Adam and Eve were new to me. So were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. So was the teaching that the rainbow was more than a refraction of light; in fact, I still remember what I felt the first time I saw a rainbow after reading Genesis 9. “This is God’s sign,” I said to myself, “. . . .evidence of God’s keeping His promise.” It was all quite amazing.                

The book of Exodus was next, and it was even better. For a 13-year-old guy, stories of burning bushes, plagues descending, seas dividing, mountains shaking, lightning striking, and thunder crashing only made me want to know more of the Bible. I couldn’t put it down. 

But, then I got to Leviticus . . . and I didn’t know what to do. 

I had no idea how to understand this book. I couldn’t figure out what all the laws were about, so I simply quit reading for a while. I suppose I could have skipped the book, but I didn’t know at the time you were allowed to do that! I just laid my Bible down—and felt guilty every day I didn’t read. 

Why did I quit reading at that point? Because my church had told me to read the Bible, but they didn’t teach me how to do it. Consequently, I knew what I needed to do, but I didn’t know how to get it done. I then became just like a bunch of other people in the church who had been told but not taught: I failed to be faithful in my quiet time. 

Anytime we tell but not teach, we set people up for failure. We can expect nothing less from our church members when we give them no tools or strategies to do what they need to do. The problem is that we make this same mistake with a lot of disciplines and activities, like Bible study. And prayer. And fasting. And evangelism. And giving. And serving. And discipling. And fighting temptation. I could continue adding to this list, but I trust you get my point. If we tell believers to do what the Bible tells us to do (which we must do), we must also teach them how to do it. 

I realize that teaching takes more energy and time than simply telling. It requires intentionality and planning, guiding and reviewing, following up and re-teaching if needed. It also assumes that we who do the teaching are faithful in our own walk with the Lord and can, in fact, teach others. It’s much more work than simply telling, but it’s also much more likely to lead to lasting change. 

So, don’t just tell. Teach. 

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9 Dangerous Fault Lines for Churches in 2024

I’ve never stood face-to-face with a tsunami, and trust me, I am thankful for that. These monsters of the deep are as fascinating as they are fearsome. Just the other night, what started as a quick dive into tsunami videos turned into a full hour of awe with a dash of trepidation.

Here’s what this amateur earthquake enthusiast learned: when the Earth’s fault lines shift, it’s a red flag. And in a way, many churches have their own fault lines – trouble spots that, if ignored, could lead to serious problems.

On the one hand, I am hopeful for local congregations. I continue to see God working in countless churches. Those stories remind me that He is not done with us. On the other hand, I see numerous warnings, more than I can remember in my lifetime. I call those warnings “fault lines.” If ignored, those fault lines can result in earthquakes which will produce deadly tsunamis.

So what are the fault lines we see as we move into 2024? Here are nine of them in no particular order.  They give me great concern for our churches.

1. Denial. It’s the church version of “see no evil.” But ignoring issues doesn’t make them vanish – they become bigger.

2. Complexity and busyness. Have you ever seen a church try to spin too many plates? Spoiler alert: they crash. I spoke with the leadership of a church with fewer than 40 in attendance. The church had 9 committees and 15 programs and ministries. Their members were so busy spinning those plates that they had no time to reach those in their community. Obviously, this church is declining and probably dying.

3. Silver bullet obsession. Many churches think if they get the “perfect” pastor, everything will be fine. That pastor must be married with 2.7 kids, 42 years old, and have 25 years of pastoral experience. In some cases, the silver bullet is an era instead of a person. If our church just did everything like it did in the 1980s or 1990s, all of our problems will go away.

4. Evangelistic ignorance. In many churches we help, our consulting and coaching team has to define “evangelism.” Only 5% of churches have any type of true evangelism initiative where the church intentionally reaches people in their communities with the gospel. We can no longer grow our churches with biological growth and transfer growth only. Evangelism means we will reach people with conversion growth.

5. Staffing for the year 2004. Too many churches hire staff like it’s 20 years ago. Their job descriptions fit well in an earlier era. Churches can also be extraordinarily slow in moving to a bi-vocational or co-vocational model of staff ministry. Some positions are no longer needed, and others can be filled virtually.

6. Doctrinal deviation. Much has been written about the leftward slide of mainline denominations over several decades. Our team at Church Answers has been using the same church survey since 1996, and we are seeing an alarming increase in doctrinal deviation in self-described evangelical churches. For example, more church members in these churches are unwilling to affirm the doctrine of exclusivity. They are denying Christ’s own words in John 14:6 where He said unequivocally that He is the only way of salvation.

7. Ignoring toxicity. Church toxicity is often denied or ignored. Our team recently received a plea to work with a church that had lost two-thirds of its attendance in just a few months. They refused to deal with a toxic member who ultimately ran off the pastor. Church members were already leaving regularly because of the toxic church member. When he succeeded in forcing the pastor out, one-half of the attendance left in a week. The toxic member is still at the church.

8. Deferred maintenance. Many churches have delayed maintaining and repairing facilities, grounds, and equipment. They find themselves in a position where they cannot afford to pay for repairs today. Sadly, I spoke to several church leaders who feel like their church will close in 2024 because they cannot pay for even the minimal repairs needed.

9. Lack of priority of groups. One clear trend we see today is that healthier churches tend to focus more on groups: small groups, Sunday school classes, community groups, life groups, etc. Those who participate in groups tend to give more, attend worship more frequently, be more involved in ministries, and serve with joy. Failure to give priority to groups is a certain sign of a fault line.

Any or all of these nine fault lines could become earthquakes that produce tsunamis in 2024. I pray that you will deal with the fault lines in your church before it becomes too late.

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Your Church Is Probably Not Paying Your Pastor Enough

Most pastors do not take a vow of poverty when called into the ministry. They deserve a fair wage for their work like everyone else. Moreover, almost every pastor is motivated by factors other than money. I don’t hear many stories from pastors beginning with, “I decided to go into ministry because of the money.”

Likely, your church is not paying your pastor enough. What gives?

First, I want to offer three points of clarification.

My church is generous, and I’m content with my pay. West Bradenton is good to my family. I have no complaints. This article is not about me.The stories of extreme wealth among pastors are rare. Do not let a few excessive cases taint your view of all pastors.Most people use their own salaries as a point of comparison. If a pastor makes more than they do, it’s too much. If a pastor makes less than they do, it’s too little.

Second, actual data is helpful rather than speculation.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for a full-time pastor is $55,550. This figure is right in the middle of the national median annual salary for all men ($59,488) and all women ($49,036) in the United States.

I believe this level of pay is too low for most pastors. Here is why.

Benefits packages are often much less for pastors when compared with other industries.The average pastor is almost 60 years old. These wages are low for those who are supposed to be in their peak income-earning years. For pastors with young families, the pay is even lower.The demands on the family are entirely different than most other jobs. Everyone in a pastor’s family feels a level of stress that is unique to the position.The education requirements for a pastor are much higher than jobs in other industries. Many churches want their pastor to have a master’s degree, if not a doctorate.You are always on call. Every hour. Every day.The work hours are longer. Over half of pastors work more than fifty hours a week.Transitioning to another job or ministry position is more complex and personal for pastors and their families.The expectations of a pastor are much greater. Everyone in the church wants the pastor to be an expert in their area of interest: theology, finance, counseling, leadership, facilities, pedagogy, and technology, among many others.

What can your church do to solve the problem?

Stay on top of inflation! Cost of living increases should occur every year and mirror the inflation rate. The inflation problem is hitting everyone, but the limitations of church budgets mean pastors and church staff are hit especially hard. They don’t often get 10% and 15% increases.Ask your pastor if there are additional financial needs. Don’t put the burden on your pastor to take the initiative.Consider adding benefits, especially healthcare and retirement. Even small items can be quite helpful, like paying for a laptop or a mileage reimbursement.Practice equal pay with men and women on staff. Churches are notorious for paying women less for doing the same job as their male peers.If you are behind with your pay scales, make an intentional effort to catch up. Frankly, there is a massive shortage of pastors, which is not likely to change any time soon. The short supply and high demand mean other churches will make solid offers to attract good pastors. Don’t make pay the reason your pastor needs to make a transition.

Third, do not forget most pastors receive part-time pay. There are approximately 400,000 churches in the United States. How many of these congregations are led by bi-vocational pastors? A precise count does not exist, but estimates range between 50% and 75%. Most bi-vocational pastors would be stunned with an offer of $55,000!

My first church paid me $50 weekly, enough to cover gas. The drive was 90 minutes one-way. I loved being bi-vocational and did not regret serving a poor, rural church. The people were as generous as they could be and loved me deeply. Even if your church can’t pay more, express your appreciation often. Your pastor does not love you because of what you pay. But your pastor will value your expressions of love.

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