5 Responses to “Why Young Pastors are leaving the Ministry?
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1.  Anonymous  on 11/01/2005 1:01 PM  

   wow.
   
   that is pretty disturbing, but i can relate to it.
   
   i think for most ppl the pressure is just too much.
   
   * low pay
   
   * a lower level of respect due to their age vs. the age of their chruch members. this creates unbelievable tension on all sides.
   
   * the pressure of coming up with something on a weekly basis that is going to not only change a life, but impact one is something that lots of folks can't deal with.
   
   * not enough money
   
   * trying to balance "fixing" everyone else's life and run your own house is overwhelming.
   
   * not even close to enough prayer support
   
   * the pay usually sucks
   
   * tired of the ppl "not getting it"
   
   * church politics is something that cannot be really grasped until you're "in". once one you're "in", it surrounds you.
   
   * you realize that the church is a place where everyone has great ideas but will not help impliment any of them - THAT'S YOUR JOB
   
   * crummy pay
   
   * you realize that the church is full of ppl who love to bring their ideas that DIDN'T work in the business world into the church where they wont work either. then when you dont move on their idea, they get pi$$ed off and leave.
   
   * you get tired of hearing that ppl aren't "being fed". these are the same ppl who's bibles are STILL collecting dust as we speak
   
   * you thought you got hired to inspire and motivate ppl on in their walk with God, but you find ouit that the committee decides all of that for you....you just dress up pretty and figure out how to get more ppl in the door
   
   * you realize you havent really seen those ppl in the picture frame that sits on your desk in months
   
   * and once all of this piles up, you realize that the jerks you grew up with are doing way better than you financially while doing their own thing, so you say, "to hell with it...if being broke, having no free time, and being miserble is what serving the Lord means, i'm out!"
   
   
   
   that's just to name a few

2.  Anonymous  on 11/01/2005 1:02 PM  

   oh yeah. forgot to leave my name
   
   -sam

3.  Brian Eberly  on 11/01/2005 2:30 PM  

   My heart sinks as I read these lists. It breaks my heart that they are so true in so many churches.
   
   These lists demonstrate yet one more reason the youth ministry in the church MUST NOT allow itself to become merely a para-church type of ministry.
   
   To often youth ministry becomes an entity all of it's own as opposed to being a part of the whole of the church. When this happens the divide grows along with it, disappointment, lack of understanding and respect, lack of support, etc.
   
   The church must see youth ministy as important as any other ministry within the church, especially when 85% of people who come to faith in Jesus do so before they are 18 years old. The church must value, honor, support, as well as pay well, those giving their lives to understaning students and ministering to them.

4.  J-Wild  on 11/01/2005 7:44 PM  

   The other side of the coin...
   
   1. YM (especially young ones) often have a vaulted sense of their own importance, knowledge, and impact.
   
   2. Our profession isn't appreciated like "real jobs" because many of us roll into work around 10:00 am and present ourselves as big kids instead of competent adults.
   
   3. We come back to the church late, change plans often, and plan things according to our schedules instead of thinking about our students families.
   
   4. We over emphazise how much fun we had at an event instead of how much of a difference the event made.
   
   5. We hold ourselves to a low intellectual standard.
   
   6. We begin our ministries without thinking or planning for the long-term.
   
   7. We crave approval too much.
   
   8. We don't articulate a clear vision for ministry to our parents and Elders or often enough.
   
   9. We're lone rangers.
   
   10. We don't balance our family and church time well.
   
   This is a list that I came up with by just analyzing my own shortcomings over the last eight years. There is a lot more churches, parents, and teens can do to support us. However, the only thing we have control of for sure is ourselves.
   
   To be sure Churches can chew and spit out YM like nothing else. But sometimes I am not always convinced that YM who are starting out are equipped with the right theological and social skills to make it in for the long term.
   
   I would like to get paid more though!

5.  Anonymous  on 12/09/2005 11:14 AM  

   Sometimes the Senior Pastor can be a royal jerk, and use you for his gain.

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