Become an equipper. The duties given to the one, full-time, paid elder, usually called “the pastor” here in America, can vary greatly, and legitimately so (Acts 20:28-32; I Timothy 5:17-20). In my opinion, in most cases, one of the three responsibilities which the full-time pastor should give himself to is that of training/equipping the saints (Ephesians 4:12) so that the saints can do the work of the ministry. As long as you do it all yourself, your church will let you do it all yourself. But with a lot of assertiveness and tenacious instruction, God can transform your church from a congregation of minister-watchers to a congregation of ministers. A key insight here is the importance of trust. McIntosh writes ,“The trouble is that pastors think organizationally about the church before thinking relationally. A good rule to remember is this: whenever you hit resistance, strengthen the relationship before bringing in reinforcements.” God's Word suggests that faith is best balanced with facts. Proverbs 18:13 is emphatic in this case: "He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him." A paraphrase is more explicit: "What a shame—yes, how stupid!—to decide before knowing the facts!" (TLB). Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” – Colossians 3:11 No pastor sets out to do this, but it happens, over time, to too many of us. I’m talking about getting tough, hard, contemptuous, sarcastic, and cynical. I’m talking about emotionally, and sometimes physically, isolating yourself from all except a few individuals.

Solo Pastors: Here Are The Rest Of Those Ways To Keep Your

Then I got mad. After one particular “aha” discovery, I found myself yelling at an empty room, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?!” Family Pressures I’ve seen pastors come up with varying strategies for being able to “stay in,” in spite of the difficulties. Some of those strategies are good and godly and healthy and some are not. Denominational officials, Bible college professors, and ministry coaches also will benefit from reading the book. The insights McIntosh offers will help them target their advice to the needs of solo pastors they are leading and training. The “woods are full” of good men who have served as solo pastors who are now selling insurance, building homes or working at Home Depot.Get wise regarding your strengths and weaknesses. If you’re really terrible at hospital visits, maybe you can just admit this and persuade someone else to do it.

Climbing Solo: The Dangers of Being a Solo Pastor

Use two criteria to determine when to say yes and when to say no to new opportunities. (1) Do your people "own" the vision? If it originated with one or a few, do others see it as a priority? It's best to delay starting a new ministry unless you have a minimum of five people committed to getting it started and keeping it running. (2) Do you have the emotional and spiritual resources, personnel, money, and facilities? In most churches no one will protect you from being destroyed by your ministry. A few rare congregations have pastoral support committees, or something similar. Generally speaking, these groups only exist on paper because most lay persons simply don’t understand what it’s like to be a pastor. This is not anyone’s fault; it’s just one of those professions that you have to experience to understand.

Big vision, modest means" is a silent reality churches find difficult to manage. While a church doesn't wish to lower its dreams, it must strategically use the resources God has provided. This means sharpening the focus of the church on its primary resources: spiritual, people, facility, and money. Each of these resources overlaps the others, strengthening or weakening each one. Solo pastors have an urge to lead a church beyond its capacity. As Christians, we must count the cost of discipleship, but the principle applies to ministry too—godly faith leads to strategically planned ministry. Maybe you think I’m being overdramatic. “Being a solo pastor can’t be that hard,” you might say. But Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs for a reason. When the apostle Paul traveled on his missionary journeys, he took along people to help him. Jesus and Paul recognized the dangers of solo ministry. Ministry is supposed to be teamwork. If your pastor is flying solo, it’s important that you know these dangers too. Small Congregation Solo pastors are almost always in small congregations. A church needs an average weekly attendance of 76 people for each full-time staff member. Half of the churches in America have a weekly attendance of less than 75. Most churches are small and they have solo pastors. There are s ome struggles unique to small churches – not enough money, limited and aging facilities, and not enough volunteers. So the solo pastor often takes on more than one person can possibly do. Pastors do a lot! Paul could just as easily have included “single or married” in this list of status markers that have been swept away by the new, complete and eternal identity found in Christ. Married, single, Scythian or otherwise, our Christian distinctiveness rests completely in the character and work of Jesus.

The Solo Pastor: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges

Keep in mind that singleness, like marriage, is a circumstance of earthly life only (Luke 20. 34-36). I recall an extremely robust discussion I once had with a fellow grad student who held a rather rigid definition of healthy Christian adulthood. He was fixed to the idea this could only be expressed by those in marriages with many children. I pointed out to him that (aside from the obvious example of Christ) the history of God’s people includes innumerable stories of amazing people who minister and teach the Gospel, and (perhaps for reasons of martyrdom, war, health, social conditions or other factors) remained unmarried and without children. Unfortunately, he could not fathom that a healthy adult could embrace living and ministering solo. Even more unfortunately, this man was a leader in his local congregation! The truth is singleness is no more a deficit of person or character than marriage is an indicator of mature spirituality. Wait patiently for other dreams to materialize as the resources to run and maintain them are brought forth. "We had a lot of school teachers in our church," remembers one solo pastor. "They were always pushing us to start a Christian elementary school. After giving it consideration, the elders determined the resources weren't there for a full-blown elementary school but that we could manage to begin a preschool. We walked through that open door, and five years later the preschool was so successful that we were able to start building an entire elementary school." A solo-pastor church can adequately add only one new ministry a year, and perhaps retool two other ministries. Hence, it's wise to consider if there are enough resources to complete any plan.I wasn’t trying to be confusing either, but it would have been better if I had clarified that I was talking about the solo pastorate driving you right out of the ministry. This is a sad scenario that I’ve seen more than a few times. You stay in by lowering your expectations to the level of “nothing’s happening here, but nothing’s happening anywhere else either.” You lose faith but “keep on keeping on” because you heard this phrase in seminary.

Lincoln City Church

Pastor Steven Boyd “I found value in our meetings and am grateful you invited me to be part of it as a ‘future senior pastor.’ I enjoyed being able to be part of the conversations and glean from those beyond me. Thanks for your leadership with the group and your heart for pastors!” I am saying that churches with solo pastors often, inadvertently, “kill” their pastors, in the sense of rendering them unable to continue effectively in local church ministry.Learn what it means to be a “differentiated” or “self-differentiated” individual and become one. This is a psychological concept that is worth studying. It’s today’s way of singing, “Dare to be a Daniel; dare to stand alone; dare to have a purpose firm and dare to make it known.” You get good at going through the motions. You settle for survival. You’re not fruitful but at least you’re “faithful.” You don’t expect people to be excited about the gospel and they aren’t. You don’t expect lost people to be converted and they’re not. You “hang on for retirement.” Keep in mind, I don’t mean, “How do we build a meaningful ministry to singles?” Nope – completely different topic! That’s an issue for other blogs and books dedicated to programming, evangelism and “the emerging relevant church.” I’m talking about ministry-when-the-servant-is-single. Be enough of a mystic to obtain great joy and peace and satisfaction from God’s presence. Stay in the Word of God long enough to get your “blesser” blessed. For some, singleness may be a very specific calling from the Lord. For others, being unmarried may be an intentional lifelong choice. Still others may be single simply because circumstances have not afforded an opportunity for marriage. And while it may be that some may remain single for immature or selfish reasons, the same remains true of marriages.