Clergy without - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Clergy without a Call:

RRA/SSSR Annual Meeting – Atlanta, GARyan Curnutt, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod10/28/2016

What we learned from Lutheran pastors who left the ministrySlide2

Background

In 2001, Dean Hoge and Jacqueline Wenger (Pastors in Transition, Eerdmans, 2005) studied former pastors in the LCMS and four other major denominations.Assemblies of God, ELCA, United Methodist, Presbyterian-USA

In 2013 the LCMS Convention resolved to study its “ inactive” pastors (that is , ministers who do not have a ministry call)

Survey of LCMS District Presidents in 2014, about the inactive pastors in each of their districts

Focus Groups with Inactive Ministers in April, 2016

In Fall 2015, LifeWay conducts their (Phase 3) survey on former pastors, which included an LCMS sample.Slide3

Pastor Rick

Rick (early 40s) was happy with the congregation he was placed in after graduating seminary. But soon, his wife and oldest child became ill. Eventually they learned that their symptoms were a reaction to chemicals in the air from local refineries. For the sake of his family’s health, Rick resigned from his first call. He planned to take another pastor position in a different community, but he had trouble finding a church that would hire after apparently abandoning his first congregation. Eventually, Rick returned to his previous career in software development.Slide4

Comparison of Survey results:

LifeWay SampleLCMS OversampleSlide5

Differences-Ministry

LCMSMuch shorter careers as pastor25% less than 5 years 16% over 20 yearsLess likely to have been in a small congregations

65% over 100 people

12% under 50 people

LifeWay Sample

15% less

than 5

years

29 %

over 20 years

48

% over

100

people

25

%

under 50 peopleSlide6

Differences-personal

LCMS66% agreed that they protected time with their family39% say family resented role58% spouse found a role 22

% strongly disagreed

67% spouse

was enthusiastic about their ministry

53% concerned about finances

55% time with God 5X/week

LifeWay Sample

74% agreed that they protected time with their family

33% say family resented role

70

% spouse found a

role

13

% strongly disagreed

78% spouse

was enthusiastic about their ministry

72% concerned about finances

68% time with God 5X/weekSlide7

Similarities

LCMS Sample44% served last congregation 5 years or less45% this was first senior pastorate81% workingMost (

66

%) still in ministry

51% said demands were too much

60% felt free to say

"no

“

Change in call was top reason to leave pastorate (57%), then conflict

LifeWay

Sample

40% served last congregation 5 years or less

38% this was first senior pastorate

81% working

Most

(

52

%) still in ministry

48% said demands were too much

68% felt free to say

"no

“

Change in call was top reason to leave pastorate (40%), then conflictSlide8

Similarities-conflict

LCMS32% left because of conflict– second highest reason86

%

reported

having listened

for signs of conflict

Sources

of conflict

–

Ranked:

Changes pastor proposed

– 59%

Personal attack – 57%

Conflict

with lay

leaders – 54%

With a patriarch or

matriarch

of

the congregation –

49%

Over leadership style – 48%

Expectations of pastor – 46%

LifeWay Sample

25% left because

of conflict

–

second highest reason

84

%

reported

having listened

for signs of conflict

Sources

of conflict

–

Ranked:

Changes pastor proposed

– 56%

Personal attack – 54%

Conflict

with lay

leaders – 47%

With a patriarch or

matriarch

of

the congregation –

45%

Over leadership style – 40%

Expectations of pastor – 38%Slide9

Pastor Dale

Pastor Dale (late 50s) took a call at a congregation knowing that it was going to be rough. The church had just been through a major conflict brought on by their previous pastor. Dale was called to lead them through the healing process. But before his first year was up, he was approached by the elders: “You keep preaching about forgiveness. We are not interested in forgiving [previous pastor]. We want to move forward, so you need to stop looking back. Find something else to preach, or find somewhere else to preach.”

Pastor Dale did not stop preaching about forgiveness, and it was not before he was forced to resign. He has not been able to find a pastorate in the years since.Slide10

Focus groupsSlide11

Methodology

This past spring, 18 ordained LCMS men were invited to St. Louis from across the country.Each of these pastors had at some time spent an extended amount of time on “candidate status”. None of these men had done anything that would make them ineligible for ordained ministry in the LCMS.A few of these men eventually received calls, others finally “ moved on” into other ministries or secular careers, and some are still on "call lists" waiting for a new church.Two focus groups were over a week apart with different participants, yet the sentiment expressed in both was practically identical.Slide12

Pastors Abe and Glen

Pastor Abe (mid 40s) was the sole pastor at a congregation for 15 years and everything seemed to be going well. Then, he was abruptly asked to resign, without being given a reason. The congregation called a much younger pastor to fill his place. Only later did Abe learn that the same thing had happened to the pastor prior to him, as well as the pastor prior to that. This congregation had a history of pushing pastors away right around the 15 year mark, to get someone younger and fresher.

Associate Pastor Glen (late 20s): was fresh out of seminary when he was placed in a small urban congregation. At the time of his placement, he was told by his DP to that the church was not viable and was certainly going to close soon. Within a year, it did close. But when Glen went to find another position, he found that no one was willing to hire someone who had “killed his prior church”.Slide13

Purpose

The primary purpose of these groups was to assess the reaction of these men to recommendations from a Presidential Task Force regarding reform to the call process and the treatment of inactive ministers.A secondary goal for these groups was to explore and assess the quality of care for pastors, specifically pastors in conflicted congregations or those in between calls.This will be the focus of the rest of my talk todaySlide14

Identity and Isolation

“Have I somehow disqualified myself? Is God done with me?” “I

have no idea where I stand. I'm not even sure

I exist.”

“

I visit shut-ins, conduct funerals, and preach on Sunday mornings. Yet my church says that I am

inactive

in ministry. I am something less than a

real

pastor.”

“

If you don't seek out care, you won't have any – because there is no one obligated to

provided

it.”

“I was really close with the other pastors in the area. But the moment I was trouble,

they

all just stopped talking to me.”Slide15

Results in Lack of Trust

“My DP is supposed to take care of me, but he also plays a key role in finding a new job. If I am struggling with something, and I open up to him about it…I'm done.” “After everything that has happened, my wife can’t believe I would still go back if they gave me a chance. She has

completely lost trust

in denomination’s leadership.”

“

Silence from

on

high inevitably leads to

sarcasm

, bitterness and conspiracy theories.”Slide16

They still Need Care

From where have you received your pastoral care?Practically in unison: “ I don’t”

“[My DP] only called me when there was bad news or when it was

time

to fill out my annual paperwork.”

“

I understand my DP is busy. He oversees many pastors who are in the trenches.

But

some of us

have

gone from the trenches to the infirmaries, and there is

no

one there for us.”

“

How would you pastor a lay person in

your

church that was struggling with his job or suddenly unemployed? How would you pastor his family? Just

do

that for me and for my family.”Slide17

Not Much has Changed Since 2001 ( Hoge & Wenger

)Despite major differences in the pastor call process and in ecclesiastical structure, denominations are not that different from one another

in terms of the pastors

’

experience.

Many pastors approaching burnout feel isolated

and unsupported.

There are problem pastors and problem

lay people

.

Pastors are entitled and independent - come off as arrogant

Lay people

are consumerist and

hold less reverence for pastors

And a

conflicted situation can provoke the worst out of both

Less

reverence for the pastoral office and distrust of institutions.

Lay people do not show as much respect for their pastors

Pastors have a high level of distrust of their judicatory leaders.

Conflict is the second most cited reason for leaving the ministry, second only to being called to other ministry.Slide18

Pastor Carl

Associate Pastor Carl (mid 30s) “We had been having budget trouble for a while. Out the blue, I was called to a Trustee meeting at church, which I knew wasn’t good. They told me there was no longer money in the budget to pay me. I wasn’t even given time to even call my wife. They told me to gather my things and pointed me to the door. As I left, one of the lay leaders said to me, ‘If you tell anyone what happened here, our lawyers will come after you.’ The senior pastor was too afraid to say anything, and my DP never came to my aid.”Slide19

Recommendations

The following recommendations were directed toward denominational leaders – but some can also be applied to other pastors and even congregation leaders, in terms of taking care of other pastors.Slide20

SO RECEIVE HIM IN THE LORD WITH ALL JOY, AND HONOR SUCH MEN, FOR HE NEARLY DIED FOR THE WORK OF CHRIST...

 O RECEIVE HIMPhilippians 2:29-30Slide21

Recommendations – Be a Pastor to Pastors

Most of what we found confirmed the general wisdom. But though it seems obvious, it isn’t taking placeBe the pastor to the pastorsHow would you pastor a lay person struggling with their job / unemploymentDo not neglect to care for their families

Be intentional – its up to you to (re)build trust.

Pray for them. Not just when you are with them , but even when they are not aware that you are praying for themSlide22

Recommendations –Facing Conflict

Training – Seminaries need to devote whole courses to handling congregational conflictWhole-Person CareThey will have other issues too– don’t let the conflict situation be the only thing you talk aboutDon’t let them get to the point that every time you call they expect bad newsGet them reinforcementsConflict means extra work without a break from their normal duties

A helper to handle some pastoral duties

Visitation, preaching , Bible classes, etc.

Or just someone to commiserate withSlide23

Recommendations – Leaving Ministry

Much of their personal and spiritual identity is tied up in being a pastorSeminary degrees are a hindrance in the job marketOver-qualified by degree, but under-qualified in training and experienceThey may not even know what other careers they might be suited for, or how to find themSlide24

A noble goal

Moral – just as pastors are to care for their parishioners, the Church as a whole needs to care for its pastors.Practical – the Church needs these pastors, and we need them to be at their best.Witness– the world is watching, they will notice how we treat our own.