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Why Your Pastor Left
Moments after our pastor exited the building that afternoon in 2008, most of the congregation sat in shock. A tiny-but powerful minority wore victorious smiles, at the ministers ousting. The lady to my left wept. Her question pleading question kept me awake all night. "Why did our pastor have to leave?" Polls reveal startling statistics regarding pastoral ministry: 91% of ministers know three to four others who've been forced out of pastoral positions. One-third of all pastors serve congregations who either fired the previous minister or actively forced their resignation. At any given time, 75% of pastors in America want to quit. More than 2000 pastors leave their ministry each month. American church decline has reached epidemic proportions. In the last century it has waned nearly 60%. Pastoral attrition is either an indicator of that problem, or is central to it. Why Your Pastor Left is full of detailed statistics and identifies the top ten "Ministry Killers" that cause pastoral stress and eventual "burnout."
- GenresChristianity
290 pages, Paperback
Published April 4, 2016
About the author
Christopher D. Schmitz
132 books253 followersChristopher D Schmitz is the author of fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular blogger.
Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.
Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.
Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.
Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.
Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.
Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 7, 2017
OMG! Why Your Pastor Left, the title of this book, sums it up. Basically this is your fault, your problem, your cross to bear. You have not given the poor pastor anything he needs to do his (the author refers almost exclusively to male ministers) job in a way that will give him the money, the respect, the honor, the recognition, etc. ad infinitum, that he deserves (or that he thinks he deserves). I did note a few valid points by Mr. Schmitz, but my feeling was that they were few and far between. There was way too much self-aggrandizement in this book for me; and I had the feeling that if he had been my pastor I would not have to read why he left - I would know: we weren't good enough for him. I realize that I may sound unduly harsh, but I have been married to a successful minister for more than forty years. That means that I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. But we handled everything together in what I hope was a graceful, Christian manner (usually he did better than I did). Instead of trying to find out why the minister left, focus on "doing all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
August 7, 2016
Note: I received a copy of this book free from the author.
I remember in my Greek church there used to be constant turnover of priests. The church would split into factions, those in support and those against. It happened quite a bit. So I was interested in this topic.
I had problems from the beginning when the author speaks of God as if he were the personal spokesperson for God. So God does this and God does that.
Religion is an enemy of rationalism and intelligent thought. It promotes ignorance and anti-science. If the church wants to keep people involved, why not speak out for a solid scientific education. How about working on climate change or speaking out against gun madness or supporting good government. It's all about some other world that we know nothing about.
I remember in my Greek church there used to be constant turnover of priests. The church would split into factions, those in support and those against. It happened quite a bit. So I was interested in this topic.
I had problems from the beginning when the author speaks of God as if he were the personal spokesperson for God. So God does this and God does that.
Religion is an enemy of rationalism and intelligent thought. It promotes ignorance and anti-science. If the church wants to keep people involved, why not speak out for a solid scientific education. How about working on climate change or speaking out against gun madness or supporting good government. It's all about some other world that we know nothing about.
November 20, 2016
This is a difficult review to write because I've got to break it down into two parts: the part where I evaluate the book on its merits as a writing; and the "unfair" part where I get to dispute opinions, point out logical stretches and demolish untruths.
As to the book's merits on its own, regardless of your opinion as to its point of view, arguments or conclusions. My main observations are these: (1) The title isn't an accurate representation of the book: one would expect that a book about "why a pastor left" would include numerous detailed and fact-filled tales of dissension or subterfuge. There are some pages of statistics (mostly 15+ yrs old) and a few high level hand-wavey stories about why pastors have left. But you won't find one beginning-to-end story, with all sides presented, of why a pastor left a church. (2) Unfortunately the book comes across as an assortment of screeds, haphazardly agglomerated, as opposed to a story or argument with an opening, a middle (supporting facts/arguments/anecdotes) and a conclusion. As such, it's extremely hard to tell where you're headed as a reader and for a good part of the book you may be wondering when the secret is going to come out. (3) My notes reveal a consistent theme of poor editing to the point of distraction. Not only in grammatical errors, punctuation, made-up words, sentence structure; but in style itself: clear flow of thought, organization, and a step up from "collection of manifestos" or "semi-related anecdotes" to "cohesive work". Six out of the ten notes I took through the book referred to a need for severe editing in one form or another.
Now the leap into actual arguments with the book's tone and contents.
The book begins out with some good insights but loses credibility points as the author claims to travel the country and not be able to meet any pastors as he passes through towns, as he would have in the old days. I wonder what kind of hours he was traveling and how much time he gave for these pastors to return a phone call. Just an odd way to begin. There's also a lot of "should"-ing that doesn't apply to all churches. -The book seems to take a very preachy turn at this early point. Four sentences start with the word "See". Normal writing doesn't work that way. This is condescending.
About 1/4 of the way through the book the author argues that pastors are called by God, therefore, if you are opposed to what the pastor is doing, you are against God. This sort of becomes a recurring theme through the book: "Hindering a Godly pastor's vision is the same as refusing the will of God." By this logic, Godly pastors are infallible. I don't buy it.
There's a discussion of the pay and benefits that are due to pastors. Many generic arguments. I simply don't see why a pastor of a small country church or two, who perhaps works 6-8 hours a week (being generous there), should be entitled to the median wage for a full-time worker who attends the church. Especially since that pastor has another 30+ hours a week that he could be using productively. Author needs to come out of the bubble and into the real world. There are a LOT of people who have a "calling" and don't get paid a cent for it. If it's truly a calling that doesn't detract from taking additional work, they should fairly be expected to pull their weight just as parishioners give freely of their time (above and beyond their 40 hour a week jobs) to perform acts of volunteerism for the church.
A section follows on the stresses to which pastors and their families are subject. The author says that he turns off his cell phone on purpose, on a schedule, so "anxious Annies" can't reach him. Wow, how callous! This reeks of bad management and worse. How about training those people to manage themselves or setting up a chain of people to call first so simple issues can be dealt with at a lower level, if you have so many people you minister to that your phone is ringing off the hook. Simply turning off the phone and leaving people hanging if a member of their family is dying and wants to talk to the pastor? That would not fly here, this pastor would be out and rightly so.
I'll end by leaping into the mud and leaving two tidbits for thought direct from the book.
"The usual culprit behind ineffective pastors is the refusal of sheep to cooperate"
-Or could it be the sheep are not cooperating because the pastor hasn't used effective communication and persuasion techniques to obtain buy-in from the sheep as to why they SHOULD cooperate -- or maybe his idea is just plain bad? Is there an underlying assumption that a pastor's never had a bad idea in his life?
"No job demands as great a sacrifice as that of your pastor"
-If this author really believes that, he should take this message, hand write it on cards, and send them to the family of every soldier, sailor, fireman and policeman in his congregation. Good luck with that. Unless his congregation is different than mine, he is not putting his life on the line and risking leaving his family without a father every time he goes to work.
In summary, two stars, only because the book does have some redeeming value -- I did pick up a new point of view (that I disagreed with, but that's fine) and it wasn't so bad that I had to toss it in the garbage.
As to the book's merits on its own, regardless of your opinion as to its point of view, arguments or conclusions. My main observations are these: (1) The title isn't an accurate representation of the book: one would expect that a book about "why a pastor left" would include numerous detailed and fact-filled tales of dissension or subterfuge. There are some pages of statistics (mostly 15+ yrs old) and a few high level hand-wavey stories about why pastors have left. But you won't find one beginning-to-end story, with all sides presented, of why a pastor left a church. (2) Unfortunately the book comes across as an assortment of screeds, haphazardly agglomerated, as opposed to a story or argument with an opening, a middle (supporting facts/arguments/anecdotes) and a conclusion. As such, it's extremely hard to tell where you're headed as a reader and for a good part of the book you may be wondering when the secret is going to come out. (3) My notes reveal a consistent theme of poor editing to the point of distraction. Not only in grammatical errors, punctuation, made-up words, sentence structure; but in style itself: clear flow of thought, organization, and a step up from "collection of manifestos" or "semi-related anecdotes" to "cohesive work". Six out of the ten notes I took through the book referred to a need for severe editing in one form or another.
Now the leap into actual arguments with the book's tone and contents.
The book begins out with some good insights but loses credibility points as the author claims to travel the country and not be able to meet any pastors as he passes through towns, as he would have in the old days. I wonder what kind of hours he was traveling and how much time he gave for these pastors to return a phone call. Just an odd way to begin. There's also a lot of "should"-ing that doesn't apply to all churches. -The book seems to take a very preachy turn at this early point. Four sentences start with the word "See". Normal writing doesn't work that way. This is condescending.
About 1/4 of the way through the book the author argues that pastors are called by God, therefore, if you are opposed to what the pastor is doing, you are against God. This sort of becomes a recurring theme through the book: "Hindering a Godly pastor's vision is the same as refusing the will of God." By this logic, Godly pastors are infallible. I don't buy it.
There's a discussion of the pay and benefits that are due to pastors. Many generic arguments. I simply don't see why a pastor of a small country church or two, who perhaps works 6-8 hours a week (being generous there), should be entitled to the median wage for a full-time worker who attends the church. Especially since that pastor has another 30+ hours a week that he could be using productively. Author needs to come out of the bubble and into the real world. There are a LOT of people who have a "calling" and don't get paid a cent for it. If it's truly a calling that doesn't detract from taking additional work, they should fairly be expected to pull their weight just as parishioners give freely of their time (above and beyond their 40 hour a week jobs) to perform acts of volunteerism for the church.
A section follows on the stresses to which pastors and their families are subject. The author says that he turns off his cell phone on purpose, on a schedule, so "anxious Annies" can't reach him. Wow, how callous! This reeks of bad management and worse. How about training those people to manage themselves or setting up a chain of people to call first so simple issues can be dealt with at a lower level, if you have so many people you minister to that your phone is ringing off the hook. Simply turning off the phone and leaving people hanging if a member of their family is dying and wants to talk to the pastor? That would not fly here, this pastor would be out and rightly so.
I'll end by leaping into the mud and leaving two tidbits for thought direct from the book.
"The usual culprit behind ineffective pastors is the refusal of sheep to cooperate"
-Or could it be the sheep are not cooperating because the pastor hasn't used effective communication and persuasion techniques to obtain buy-in from the sheep as to why they SHOULD cooperate -- or maybe his idea is just plain bad? Is there an underlying assumption that a pastor's never had a bad idea in his life?
"No job demands as great a sacrifice as that of your pastor"
-If this author really believes that, he should take this message, hand write it on cards, and send them to the family of every soldier, sailor, fireman and policeman in his congregation. Good luck with that. Unless his congregation is different than mine, he is not putting his life on the line and risking leaving his family without a father every time he goes to work.
In summary, two stars, only because the book does have some redeeming value -- I did pick up a new point of view (that I disagreed with, but that's fine) and it wasn't so bad that I had to toss it in the garbage.
December 19, 2021
I doubt that this book will add much to what should be a critically important question.
July 12, 2016
An Unabashed Glimpse into the Fishbowl of Ministry
As a professionally trained minister without a church, I found Mr. Schmitz's words to be poignant and direct, speaking to a wide range of church experiences. Why Your Pastor Left isn't as much a descriptive narrative as it is a prophetic foretelling. Put simply, churches NEED the principles in this book in order to help the pastor grow, which in turn helps the church. Deacons, elders, *Board Members*, read this before you ever take office. It will do nothing but help the kingdom.
But more than informative, Mr. Schmitz interlaces Biblical Biblical scholarship, hard-hitting statistics, and gut-wrenching anecdotes seamlessly to create a can't-put-it-down feeling.
Excellent work.
As a professionally trained minister without a church, I found Mr. Schmitz's words to be poignant and direct, speaking to a wide range of church experiences. Why Your Pastor Left isn't as much a descriptive narrative as it is a prophetic foretelling. Put simply, churches NEED the principles in this book in order to help the pastor grow, which in turn helps the church. Deacons, elders, *Board Members*, read this before you ever take office. It will do nothing but help the kingdom.
But more than informative, Mr. Schmitz interlaces Biblical Biblical scholarship, hard-hitting statistics, and gut-wrenching anecdotes seamlessly to create a can't-put-it-down feeling.
Excellent work.
December 20, 2017
I listened to the Audible audio book. This was a helpful resource that discusses how pastors struggle in ministry and offers encouragement and solutions so the pastor doesn't give up or leave or get sent packing.
October 1, 2016
Should be required reading for all church members. It's a shame most people won't pick up a book like this until there's a crisis. It should be read to prevent one.
May 8, 2019
Great informative
A must read for new minister's and all who are considering going into the ministry. Encouraging and informative to new ministers
A must read for new minister's and all who are considering going into the ministry. Encouraging and informative to new ministers
August 25, 2019
Totally male view
I realized soon after beginning this book the author came from the tradition of a male pastor only church. While I agree with much of his writing, the male centric view kept me from concentrating as I should.
I realized soon after beginning this book the author came from the tradition of a male pastor only church. While I agree with much of his writing, the male centric view kept me from concentrating as I should.
December 10, 2016
An engaging read on pastoral terminations, written with "passion, truth, wounds, and all." Read my full review: Life in the Fishbowl and Why Your Pastor Left.
September 2, 2016
Why Your Pastor Left is full of detailed statistics and identifies the top ten "Ministry Killers" that cause pastoral stress and eventual burnout.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews