Andy Barlow Blog

I was given a statistic when I was working my way through the Religion Dept. at good ol’ ETBU that startled me then and has stuck with me ever since. Keep in mind this statistic is almost 10 years old now. Nevertheless, Dr. David White, Professor at ETBU, spilled this knowledge on us green, hungry, wide-eyed college students who were seeking to follow the call of God in their life. Are you ready for it?

In 2000, the average tenure for student minister at a church (as we were told) was about 18 months – 1.5 years, to be more precise. If I remember correctly, the stat given for the average tenure of a Lead or Senior Pastor was quite different, landing somewhere in the 3-4 year range (current claims? – link). I wasn’t going to be a Lead or Senior Pastor (in my mind, at least), so that stat didn’t have as great an impact on me as the one for student ministers. But 18 months. Is that all? Can one expect to bring lasting change, cultivate impacting relationship, or build any type of ministry in only 18 months?

After graduating in 2001, I watched this statistic play out in real life. One after another, brothers (and sisters) with whom I’d studied, ministered, & worshiped were barely surviving in ministry, or dropping out altogether. Even now, I can think of 3-4 friends who are currently “out” of ministry – some are searching out God’s will for them & their families, others are not. What causes what is normally referred to in church circles as “burn out” in the lives of Pastors & ministers of all sorts? How can I keep from from experiencing it in my life and have the necessary staying power to finish the race, as the book of Hebrews states? Was it simply a lack of real world training or understanding of one’s call to ministry?

Let me give you a recent example. AndyBarlowBlog.com is just barely 2 months old. I purchased the domain, hosted it at Bluehost.com, and started blogging the same day. Then, I went through a couple of major design changes before settling on the current theme. At first, the writing came soooo easy. I mean, I had things to say! But recently, the motivation to blog has been severely lessened, due to many factors – fatigue, stress, time, responsibilities, appointments, thoughts that no one reads, etc. Though I still blog regularly (4-6 times a week), it doesn’t come as easy as it first did.

I have started a regular segment called “Links Thursday” that is simply a collection of my favorite links from the past week to help boost my creative processes, but maintaining any website where the idea is to have regular readers is quite demanding. I don’t want to disappoint!

Back on topic – I don’t know that there is a definitive answer to any of the questions asked, but it is necessary, I believe, to attempt to answer them in an effort to sustain and refuel. Many times the things that are most difficult in ministry, and in life, are those things that we cannot see coming. So if we can recognize them and their presence in our lives, we can take steps to rid ourselves of them and at the same time, find refreshment and fulfillment in the work to which God has called us.

In part 1 of “Staying Power”, we’ll look at some factors that take ministers out of the game, so to speak. Part 2 will deal with some disciplines in which ministers should invest to ensure their longevity in the work to which God has called them.

Factors that take you out of the game…
1. Your immediate family is not involved in/does not support your ministry // If this is you, you probably know the loneliness that accompanies your ministry well. Feelings of discouragement and a lack of support from home cause you to doubt, wonder, worry, and fret, and it makes the call of God on your life feel more like plain work. And to top it off, you’re probably not making great money, in your opinion – few ministers make “good” money. If you’re doing it alone, you’re less likely to do it for a sustained amount of time. Few people work out without a gym partner, few people play golf without a buddy, & few ministers last in ministry without the support of their family.

2. Bad church experience // I couldn’t tell you all of the stories I know of young men and women who have taken the dive into ministry in a difficult area only to have that experience turn out negatively and shape their outlook on ministry, and Spiritual living, in general. Let me put it like this – if you have a bad experience at a restaurant, do you stop eating? No, you seek out a new place to dine. Do the same in ministry.

3. Lack of accountability // Ministers are cut from the same cloth as ordinary people and we mess up like ordinary people. It’s just that simple. Pastors need a network of friends and confidants to invest in their life and keep them from investing in things that could disrupt or derail their calling. Pornography, infidelity, misuse of church finances, unresolved conflict, marital & family problems – all could deal fatal blows to a ministry, and all usually could be avoided if that person were intimately accountable to others – before they mess up.

4. Pride // Plain and simple, when your agenda (or mine) takes the place of God’s will in the life of a minister, your days in ministry are surely numbered. You will begin to weigh the worth of your investment and attempt to analyze it with human eyes & methods, and it will all lead you a place of defeat, hopelessness, and despair. You and I cannot be the focus of what God says is His, and any attempt on our part to “force it” just won’t work. Do you need a reminder of the story of King David from 2 Samuel 11-14? Reads a lot like an episode of Jerry Springer, doesn’t it?

Before I end this little section, let me say this. These 4 factors aren’t meant to accuse or berate anyone. If you’re not currently serving in ministry or are nearing a place where you want out, I’m not telling you it’s because 1 of these 4 things is happening. Heck, this is in no way an exhaustive list. These are only meant to serve as a tool for examination.

Stay tuned for Part 2…