Length of a Pastorate

[Dr. Bob]

Since Pastoral forum gets very little traffic and this is for ALL church members, I'm initially asking about length of pastorates. Surely will raise other spin-off questions down the road.

1) How long has the pastor served in the church you attend? (If any Pastor wants to share personal story of previous ministries, this could add insight to the discussion)

2) How long do you think a pastor should ideally serve a church? (NOT looking for "until God moves him on" answers, but actual time frame for MINIMUM and MAXIMUM years YOU think is ideal)

 

[Dr. Bob]

1) How long has the pastor served in the church you attend? (If any Pastor wants to share personal story of previous ministries, this could add insight to the discussion)

I am retired and recently moved to another state. Pastor of the church here has 25+ years in this church

I pastored 2 years full-time as an "associate" (youth/college). That is serving at the discretion of the senior pastor
I was senior pastor at 3 churches for 6-8 years each, but left all before I should have (in hindsight)
Started a church and pastor/teaching elder 15+ years prior to my stroke and retirement

2) How long do you think a pastor should ideally serve a church?

I think the MINIMUM a pastor should service is 4 years. Probably the MAXIMUM would be 15 years. It takes time to get to know the church, community, members and simply pastoring a year or two and moving on seems too short to gain confidence and truly "pastor/shepherd" the people

I have seen pastors stay too long as well. Preaching gets stale or repetitious and "ruts" in leadership as well as program get too "comfortable"

 

[Marooncat79]

In one county I grew up in pastors lasted 2 yrs exactly

they were then voted out and sent packing

anything over was “too long” per the churches in that Association

not sure how it is now

 

[xlsdraw]

Our pastor went 50 years. Then he became Pastor Emeritus for coming up on 2 years so far.

He recommended, as his successor, an Assistant Pastor that had went through our Bible College and then served five years or so as his Assistant Pastor. The church did choose the Assistant Pastor and the transition went smoothly.

 

[Salty]

My first pastor was the founding missionary pastor -
He was at our church about 4 years - left to plant another church
Second pastor was there about 4 years -was growing the church
then left to do the same at another small church.
Third pastor - was there about 4 or 5 years (left after I joined the army)
to become the State Rep of the Empire State Bap Fellowship of Reg Bap
(after a few years, he became the President of Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit.

After joining the army was member of several churches in Germany, they usually stayed 3-5 years
then went back stateside.

I have been pastor for 3 years at my current church -
at my age, I would like to step down in the next 5-7 years.

 

[unprofitable]

If the Lord is willing, til death do us part.

 

[JonC]

I've attended churches where the pastor moved on about every 10 years. Most churches I've attended they stayed much longer, until they retired (then they attended as a member and filled in when churches were in need).