The PBA Blog

I was in a couple of discussions recently with church leaders that really dealt with hidden fears. In one discussion, the youth pastor of one of our larger churches was commenting on how they always invite smaller churches to their big events because they want to be a blessing to other churches. The conversation shifted to the fact that a lot of leaders of smaller youth groups are afraid to take their kids to participate with larger youth groups for fear that they will lose kids to those bigger groups.

In the other conversation several pastors were talking about the fact that they never take all of the vacation time they are allowed. It became clear in the conversation that fear also drives this decision at times. Pastors fear being away for a couple of weeks, because something may happen when they are gone. And so they burn themselves out by rarely taking a much needed break.

I have heard other pastors say they are afraid to bring a good speaker into their church because the congregation may compare the pastor to this other guy.

These fears are real, and sometimes justified. I’ve heard of big church youth groups growing by attracting youth from other churches. Though this is rarely the case. And many times congregations subject their pastor’s to unreasonable expectations.

I believe all of these kinds of fears are symptoms of our weak faith. We need to remind ourselves that it is God’s church. It’s OK if things don’t always go the way we want them to. If we are focused on his will and fulfilling his vision for our church he will provide.

If you are a lay person, here is what you can do:

Support your church’s youth ministry. Don’t shop around for a better one!

Protect your pastor by insisting he takes his vacation time. Offer to step up to cover something (hospital visits, etc.) while he is gone.

If he brings in a good speaker say to your pastor “Thanks for bringing him in, we loved him, but we love you more!”

Hey, check out my new blog post about “Ministry in Hard Times”. Just click on “Thoughts from Chuck” over on the left side of this page.

Pastor:

Have you always wanted to have a blog, but never got around to setting one up? Here is your chance. This blog is for any of our pastors who wants to post. Let’s keep it positive and informative (not a place for rants and complaints). You can repost that wonderful article that you spent so much time composing for your church’s newsletter, a thought or illustration from a sermon, a review of a book, a repost from another blog, or whatever you think would be of interest to others.

The best blogposts are kept to a few paragraphs, contain links to references made in the post, and cause others to think. So, get creative and start submitting posts. Just send them in the form of a word document to me and I will post them for you.

Chuck

PS: While you are at it, check out my personal blog www.chuckharrison.net.

Starting in January you will be able to read stories, lessons and much more from pastors across the association–right here. So stay tuned, and check back with us next year!