Two interesting articles on clergy from USA Today

I came across two insightful articles on protestant clergy in the USA Today. The first one, Protestant pastor on the job hunt? Good luck in this market deals with the huge number of clergy versus the number of churches out there (over 600,000 clergy to 338,000 churches).

According to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, there are more than 600,000 ministers in the United States but only 338,000 churches. Many of those are small churches that can't afford a full-time preacher. Among Presbyterians, there are four pastors looking for work for every one job opening.

I came across a couple of quotes that I wanted to pass on from the article. Here is the first quip (emphasis added):

The Rev. Mark Proctor of Columbia, Tenn., served at churches in Texas for about eight years before moving to the Nashville area in 2006 for his wife's work. He has interviewed at local churches but, so far, hasn't been offered a job.

For now, he consults with churches on building projects. But, says Proctor, "It's hard for any man who is called to preach to sit in the pew."

You can't see me but that last sentence made my eye twitch. I have a couple of thoughts on that sentiment but I will refrain and just say this. Brother, if you are called to preach (and if you are a Christian, you are) then preach. Don't wait for a job offer or a pulpit to stand behind. Preach the Word. There is nothing restricting you from doing so just because you aren't employed by a church. Later in the article something else I found interesting...

Bob Whitesel, associate professor of Christian ministry and missional leadership at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, says churches are under tremendous pressure to attract new members. That means they are looking for pastors who excel at attracting newcomers.

"Churches want to grow," he says. "And the pastors who get jobs are the ones who've shown they can grow churches."

That speaks for itself. The other article was a look at the increasing need for pastors to have a marketable skill so that they can supplement their income, More preachers need a 'day job', too.

Gilder said that in recent years, a number of pastors have decided to stay bivocational, even if their church grows large enough to hire a full-time pastor.

They believe that having financial independence allows them to preach what they want to preach in the pulpit, and allows them to stay out of church conflict.

If they disagree with the church's deacons or other members, the pastors can deal with the conflict without feeling that their job is threatened.

And some pastors say that staying in the work force helps them relate to their parishioners better.

"If someone comes in and says, 'My manager is killing me,' I can say, 'My manager is killing me, too. Let's pray together,'" said Brown, the Alabama pastor.

Been there and done that. I have sat in the lunch room and worked on my sermons for Sunday at lunch time. The harsh truth is that after a 4 year degree plus a M.Div. at great expense, you aren't super marketable in the job market. Paul had a skill, he could make tents (Acts 18:2-3), and because of that he was able to support himself and not be reliant on offerings (Acts 28: 30-31). Financial independence can make men bolder in preaching and we certainly can use more of that. Self-support should be the model for all men in the church wherever even remotely practical. I think I might have written on this topic a time or two before, but I can't recall...

I often find that you get a more realistic view of what is happening in the church from secular sources that don't try to sugar-coat the reality with religious terminology. It would be great if we could have these sorts of conversations without the defensiveness and acrimony they so often seem to cause.