quote:1. The discontinuity between what they imagined ministry to be and what it actually is is too great.
2. A life without weekends sucks.
3. The pay is too low (most pastors in my denomination make less money than a school teacher with five years experience).
4. They are tired of driving ten year old cars while their congregations trade in their cars every two years.
5. Many young pastors are called into difficult congregations that chew pastors up and spit them out because experienced pastors know better.
6. Even though the search committee told them they wanted to reach young people, they didn’t really mean it.
7. When the pastor asked the search committee if they were an “emergent church”, the members of the search committee thought he said “divergent church” and agreed.
8. Nobody told the young pastor that cleaning the toilets was part of the job description.
9. The young pastor’s student loans came due and the amount of money he/she owes on a monthly basis exceeds his/her income.
10. Working at McDonalds has alot less stress.
Why do you think young pastors are leaving in the ministry in droves?
Well, what if it was never God's intention for a sole person to pastor a church? According to Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 (etc.) it was the elderS who were to be the shepherds or pastors. Actually, they are told to shepherd (a task) not to be shepherds (an officer, so to speak).
And what if elders were literally older ones? Again, 1 Peter 5 (and many other NT passages) should give us a clue as to who elders were - they are immediately contrasted with YOUNGER ones. Sometimes, they are contrasted with older women which is what you would naturally expect in a letter to a church.
Never mind that mentoring acts or the work of shepherding wasn't meant to constitute a career. Again in Acts 20, Paul exhorted the elders to follow his example and to provide for their own material needs.
So, what we frequently have in the modern arrangement is one comparitively inexperienced young person essentially attempting to do the work of a whole team of experienced Christian seniors... and we wonder why things constantly go afoul and younger ones throw up their hands in frustration and anger.
Granted, many older ones - elders - today are not very knowledgeable and are thus relatively unqualified to fulfill their pastoring role but that is because the modern system has made them to be such.
May God show us his way and may all of us keep our eyes open to those younger than us who may need an encouraging touch or word of cheer.
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