A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Friday, December 26, 2014

Seven Myths About a Pastor's Workweek

from Thom Rainer:
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It is an old joke, one that is still told too often. You go up to your pastor and say, "I wish I had your job; you only have to work one hour each week." It is likely your pastor will laugh or smile at your comment. In reality your pastor is likely hurt by your statement. Indeed the reality is that too many church members have made wrongful and hurtful comments about the pastor’s workweek.

Sadly, some church members really believe some of the myths about a pastor's workweek. And some may point to a lazy pastor they knew. I will readily admit I've known some lazy pastors, but no more so than people in other vocations. The pastorate does lend itself to laziness. To the contrary, there are many more workaholic pastors than lazy pastors.

So what are some of the myths about a pastor’s workweek? Let's look at seven of them.

Myth #1: The pastor has a short workweek.

Myth #2: Because of the flexible schedule, a pastor has a lot of uninterrupted family time.

Myth #3: The pastor is able to spend most of the week in sermon preparation.

Myth #4: Pastors are accountable to no one for their workweek.

Myth #5: Pastors can take vacations at any time.

Myth #6: The pastor's workweek is predictable and routine.

Myth #7: The pastor's workweek is low stress compared to others.
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Thom fills in the details of each myth here.

1 comment:

Danny said...

Most pastors of small churches I have interacted with could if anything be criticized (not if they need it) for not listening to the teaching of scripture on rest. While many people suspect pastors of being lazy the real issue in most churches is that too many pastors are either addicted to working too much or don't take the value of rest seriously enough.