A fellow preacher I know casually called me up the other day for some information which is not really relevant for this space, except that he's thinking of leaving preaching after being in a town different than the one he had been at when I knew him. I had not known he had left the previous town, and he proceeded to tell me the story that I've heard so many times before from other preachers. He'd been there a few years, been with them through some trials, and the moment he even thinks about looking for another job (due to some family concerns) he comes in the next week to his elders' meeting and is given a thirty-day notice of termination, though it's not really thirty days because they pay him for the month he's about to preach and that month was just about over. From there he went to another church, not the one he had thought about going to previously because they dragged their feet for three months before finally saying no to him. Ultimately the church at which he landed really had no desire to do anything more than what they are now (and probably don't even want to do what they are doing), so he's thinking of moving, and probably already quit by the time you read this.
Another preacher friend of mine have kicked around the idea for a few years of writing a book for churches, "How NOT to Hire Your Next Preacher", basically a collection of horror stories about things that churches do when it comes to hire churches. While there are many good and responsible churches out there (and I am eternally blessed to be at one who treats me and my family wonderfully), there are many more that look at their preacher as a hireling, ready to jettison him the moment the shine wears off. It shows in the interview processes: churches that do not consider that he is picking up and moving a family to a new place, shuffle their feet (aka looking for a whiter knight) and leave somebody hanging for months, or totally lose communication courtesy with somebody they had brought in to interview. That book will one day be written, even if I'm not the one to write it.
I speak of all this because regularly I hear this statement that "there aren't enough preachers to go around". Men (always men in my fellowship, but that's another column) aren't being trained to preach, and many churches can't get anybody to hire, so the lament goes. So our church schools establish scholarships for preaching, 'preaching schools' (with little to no accreditation and no responsibility except to a particular ideology) pop up everywhere, and we wonder why things are the way they are. Indeed, I can name in just the area a number of churches that do not have a regular preacher and are quickly withering away; it's not that they wither because of no preacher, but because they are just dying...having a preacher only seems to delay this happening.
But it's not that there are not enough preachers; it's that there aren't enough preachers for the many tiny congregations we have. A friend of mine is a youth minister in a large (for that area) church of about 275 people, and they are looking for a preacher. Last time I talked to him they had somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 applications. I am not looking for a new job, but I scan the ads once in awhile see how many tiny churches can't afford to pay anybody; a run-down parsonage and $300/month won't support a family, sorry to say. Certainly, there are a few semi-retired ministers out there willing to do that, and God bless them, but many more churches go wanting. I can't say that I really blame these churches; they really can't afford to hire somebody on what is given, and just asking people to give more is not always the answer. Sometimes the money just isn't there.
Still, many preachers are getting out and doing something else. Two main issues I see: 1)We burn out preachers out to where they don't want to preach; many are the stories of preachers who keep getting burned by churches and need somewhere to recuperate. In another area congregation I know of at least 4 men who used to preach regularly who no longer do; they need nurturing instead after years of giving so much that they have nothing else to given, all the while being dragged through the mud by churches who have never learned to understand that preachers need love too. Why did it get that bad? Some churches are guilty of malpractice. 2)We have too many men wanting a nice job in the Bible belt. It's easier there; on the edge of it there are many more opportunities than for somebody away from it. It frustrates me when I see missionaries return back from foreign fields and they use that experience of church planting and evangelism to settle into a plateaued congregation that simply wants a preacher. 3)Many of our preachers, when they retire, move to a church where nothing is asked of them. In my parents' congregation in the heart of the Bible belt, they have dozens of retired preachers among them; a few still get out and preach occasionally, but most of them let their knowledge and wisdom go to waste. I can't imagine NOT wanting to preach at all; maybe not every week, but I'd like to think I'm starting to figure this out after a certain time.
So where are we going with this? Some suggestions. 1)Stop focusing on preachers being what churches need. Most churches don't need somebody to give two sermons and preach two classes a week. They need evangelists, those whose primary job is to make new disciples and strengthen old ones, and that happens more in the other hours of the week besides the assembly. But wait, you say...what happens when there is nobody to preach? 2)Thanks to technology, most churches don't need a regular preacher anymore. Many churches (my own included) provide audio podcasts, and some of the more high-tech churches provide live-streaming; it's now possible to watch preachers all around the world, good preachers who don't need a parsonage and $300/month from a congregation that can't afford it. 3)As most churches won't do the first two, here's a third and more realistic one: stop thinking that your preacher will be a star. Far too many of our people today compare their preacher (for example) to the fluffy nothingness that is Joel Osteen. We can't compete (except with more truth and better messages, but who wants that?). Few of us are made for TV; we plod along week after week, looking for the truth of Scripture and applying it as best we can. Far too many churches have far too high of expectations for their preachers, especially considering the fact that they can't afford to pay them a living wage. Time for that to change. 4)Recognize that going forward most of us will start having to serve part-time. Again, this is not all the home church's fault. Sometimes the money simply is not there. But we have to be realistic and find ways to help families stay afloat when the church itself cannot be the sole financial source. It's one thing to say 'we need more tentmakers', it's another thing to help these men find places to practice their tentmaking. I don't know of any church in which a business-owning member thinks about hiring dedicated Christian men whose first job isn't to work for him, but for the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but things have to change. It's a strange new world, and many of our churches and our preachers have no idea how to face it.
