Wednesday, September 26

Want to know what pastors are like here in the States these days? Stats

I would describe myself as Evangelical, though I'd want to clarify terms (as usual).
I am theologically conservative.
I don't subscribe to the Calvinist/Arminian distinction - n/a.
I am not seeker driven, nor is my church, nor my senior pastor. (I think this result on the survey is given the lie, as the analysis points out, since churches aren't growing. At least we're honest about it (and we're growing, besides :-).
My spiritual gifts, given this grid, are teaching and encouragement. More senior pastors need to be leaders. The administration and prophecy results don't surprise me. A lot of pastors do a lot of administration (as opposed to leading, which is more critical). And prophecy can be simply railing against things. As we well know, there are plenty of preachers who do that.
I'm married, have a college (and mastersl/seminary) degree, and am bringing down the average at 29. I have not been divorced.
Our church averages more than 700 people in worship.

Barna is right on in his analysis of the challenges of pastoring. The main things a pastor needs to do are lead, teach, and care.

Most pastors work long hours, are constantly on-call, often sacrifice time with family to tend to congregational crises, carry long-term debt from the cost of seminary and receive below-average compensation in return for performing a difficult job. Trained in theology, they are expected to master leadership, politics, finance, management, psychology and conflict resolution. Pastoring must be a calling from God if one is to garner a sense of satisfaction and maintain unflagging commitment to that job.

Oh yeah, and this post comes to you in preparation for Pastor Appreciation Month. Feel free to appreciate me (kind words, point traffic this way, buy stuff off of my Amazon wishlist, etc. :-).

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