I'm fresh out of eyerolls for some of the things I see, hear, and read today. I'm deep into the attitude that as a pastor, my day is past in a lot of ways. Not that I couldn't serve a church again if the Lord so led but that so many things have moved into uncharted territory. Consider me to be an an irascible curmudgeon in semi-retirement and an unreformable one at that. I have declared that I will pass on all wedding requests. Waaaaaaay to much drama and nonsense afoot on those. I'm keeping family weddings as an exception. Should there be some to come my way, I can easily do those. They … [Read more...] about Honest obits and designer funerals: How I know my day is past.
When you stay too long
One staple of pastoral ministry is this business of tenure. Early on in my first pastorate a layman in my church commented on the pastor of another church, "They liked to never got him out...", a crude way of saying that the pastor, according to the church members he talked to, stayed too long. A pastor I know is going through some considerable difficulty. He has been at his church for around eight years, which is above the average. Is it time for his tenure to start wrapping up? I was once asked, "Haven't you been at that church long enough?", a question I answered in the negative but … [Read more...] about When you stay too long
Probably not a good idea for the pastor to turn down a pay raise
It's budget time in many churches and the largest component of most church budgets is staff pay. The economy is humming along. Unemployment is very low. Many economic measures are up and consumers have confidence sufficient to be making major purchases of vehicles and the like. The LifeWay/Guidestone 2018 Compensation Study has been released and the overall average pay package for full-time senior pastors is $77,979 and the average for full-time clergy staff is $74,393. The full-time senior pastor of that average church with attendance between 100 and 150 in weekly worship is a bit lower at … [Read more...] about Probably not a good idea for the pastor to turn down a pay raise
IMB missions strategy and why I’m not much interested in boutique missions
I had a conversation this week with an individual who enthusiastically promoted their personal mission organization. Although I wasn't much interested, I listened politely but moved on to other subjects as soon as possible. Curious, I did some checking and found that there was indeed such an organization that recently registered as a corporation in my state but with no financial statements on file. Impressive. Whatever happened to the simple fact that believers were always on mission everywhere and that groups of believers, churches, gathered together to do God's work? What would a church … [Read more...] about IMB missions strategy and why I’m not much interested in boutique missions
When should the pastor retire?
I'm several years on the downhill side of retirement from being the pastor (OK, the 'senior,' 'lead,' 'head,' or 'big dawg,' pastor) of a Southern Baptist Church. I've thought about retirement in a concrete way for about 15 years now, starting about a decade before I pulled the trigger, resigned my church, and retired. My state convention (and probably all the others) has retirement planning seminars starting at age 50. I attended several. Hey, they were free and I learned a lot. These are some of the best things my state convention does. Since I am reading that the average age of … [Read more...] about When should the pastor retire?
How to track clergy sex abusers
One of the chief complaints about Southern Baptists and clergy sex abuse is that clergy against whom there are accusations of abuse are able to relocate without consequence where they may repeat the abuse in a different church. Clearly, this is a problem. Is there a solution? The Greenville (SC) News has a very helpful story on the prominent case in that state which involved a top South Carolina Baptist Convention leader: How to track sex allegations in churches? A survivor says schools have the answer. Oddly, the article's online headline leaves out the word "may" ("A survivor says … [Read more...] about How to track clergy sex abusers
2018 Average senior pastor compensation: $77,979.
That is from the LifeWay/GuideStone 2018 SBC Compensation Study. The $77,979 figure is for senior pastors only and the amount includes salary + housing allowance + FRV of parsonage + Social Security equivalent + utilities paid on church owned housing + insurance benefits + retirement contribution. There were 3,536 SBC churches that participated in the survey. The link allows you to check results by position, church size, church budget, state, etc. The initial news release noted that compensation hasn't kept up with inflation but the average is about $2,500 more than the same category … [Read more...] about 2018 Average senior pastor compensation: $77,979.
Saved by God’s grace but sacked by the church
On two consecutive days this week I learned of the termination of church staff members. These were in unrelated situations having in common only that a church staff member went to church on Sunday and Monday with a job and left without one. The firings were unexpected, sudden, and final. Such things always trouble me and since I knew both individuals, I was saddened by the situations. Most of us can be forgiven if we entered the Christian ministry with a view of the road ahead that was excessively idealistic and that lacked a sufficient measure of sober realism. Serving Southern Baptist … [Read more...] about Saved by God’s grace but sacked by the church
NAMB goes high profile on evangelism
Baptist Press reported: Johnny Hunt to lead NAMB evangelism leadership group The group Hunt will be leading will be focused on championing the cause of evangelism among Southern Baptist churches and pastors. It will also equip pastors with tools and leadership skills that will allow them to lead their churches to become more evangelistically active. NAMB critics should be satisfied with this, since they have found NAMB's lack of an evangelism staff to be a profitable route to gripe about the SBC's declining baptism numbers. Predictably, no evidence links the two unless you are a big fallacy … [Read more...] about NAMB goes high profile on evangelism
I like the tone J. D. Greear sets with servanthood
You read the Baptist Press article, Greear to state execs: 'How may I serve you?', a piece that was carried in a number of the state papers. Some state execs and editors wrote separate, positive articles. I like the tone that Greear sets here with his offer to be a servant. Some years ago, our longtime DOM retired. He was recycled to our association for his last few years. A very good man but bereft of energy and any new ideas. His replacement was one of the leading pastors in the association for whom the position was a terminal career opportunity. But one thing he did early on gained my … [Read more...] about I like the tone J. D. Greear sets with servanthood