Time for a new Pastor?

Many a church believes it needs a new pastor, when in fact it just needs to support its 'old' pastor.

 

Now you've gone from preachin' to meddlin'.

 

During service on a pastor search committee, I talked with one pastor who told me that there was a deacon in his church who had decided that once a pastor had been there for three years, it was time for him to move on.

So, after three years, the deacon came to him and told him it was time to leave. The pastor declined the offer, triggering a campaign by the deacon for the church to fire the pastor. It got ugly, but when it came to a vote, the deacon lost and left the church.

In many churches, the pastor would leave just to avoid the conflict, or the church would run him off. It takes courage for a pastor to fight an entrenched church leader or a clique within the church. Many will get out just to protect their families from continuing conflict. One can hardly blame them.

 

If a church wants a "new" pastor, they should pray for the one they already have.

 

That was in our church bulletin a couple weeks ago..

Guess who put it there....

ME! :thumbs:

 

I, the associate Pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist of Carraway, Florida, face every year an election of office. This is the way it has been done for several generations here. We have got to have the longest tenure of any pastor in any other Church in the area. If the election were to prove negative for us then we would feel that it is the will of God to move on.

 

In a sense, you are right. God will move you out when it's time to go, but you may not always like the way he does it.

But if one man in the church professed to know the mind of God regarding the pastor's tenure, I would certainly want to know if God had told anybody else.

 

Oh, I don't like those type of situations.. I have seen too much politics played throughout churches like this...

 

This discourages the Pastor from making the tough decision God has placed in His path since he knows it means no job after this year.

I am sure Moses would not have received the majority vote when he got to the banks on the red sea with Pharaoh and his army on his back. Moses was sure he was doing the Will of God yet the people don't always see it that way when obstacles and unknowns present themselves. I've seen Pastor's voted out for recommending a new building.

Just curious, do you need a 2/3 vote to be removed a simple majority (50%)?

 

Many a pastor needs a new church because the church was already dead when he came.

 

At the IFB church I grew up in, a simple majority was all that was needed to oust the pastor at the annual election. I loathe these things. My first church had this but eliminated it at the same time they voted to call me.

 

We have a fortunate clause in our bylaws, you can't vote unless you are in good standing which means you've been paying your tithe's and taken the three prior communions. That excludes that crowd on the Church Rolls that show up at the business meetings just to make trouble. However, it does remind us who they are so we can purge them from the rolls... :laugh:

 

That would allow for a strategic vote during the summer when folks are on vacation.

 

I would love a dead church. What a splendid opportunity for revival.

I was at one church for 8 months when I realized I had made a grave mistake and I was in the wrong place. The trouble is, the minority of Baptist members were glad to see me resign and the majority of Lutheran families who comprised the workers shed tears at my announcement.

Most of my churches had a 2/3 majority vote on calling a pastor and only a majority vote to send him packing.

Not sure if I cared one way or the other. Just so they didn't hinder me from preaching the word. The less I had to do with church government, the better I felt.

Cheers,

Jim

 

I thought the same thing until they realized I was serious about walking with God and doing ministry. They did not like it when "their" church grew and we had to find additional parking while they complained about not being to find a parking space. They really did not like it when they realized that their little church was exploding with growth and those around them were beginning to realize they were dead and just wanted a nice pastor and good friends. They did not like it when their little church went from one to two services and soon to have three. They were very uncomfortable because their little church was now growing beyond their control. I was shocked when they told me that most likely I would be leaving after two years just like most did.

When we invited some former Mormons to hold a conference on how to share our faith with Mormons some people tore down the posters we put up. Each day one of the men had to put up new posters. We suspected it was the music leader who caused me great trouble.

They were good about lying and adding to the attendance numbers. I was audited by the IRS because my records were different than their reported income for me, even after I told them they were doing it wrong and they refused to change. However the IRS found me right and them wrong.

However out of that came a pastor who disciples people today and many new Christians whom I met with each week. All of them left the church when we did. God is using them in other churches though.

After that experience I realized that dead meant dead and that meant that there could not possibly be any life in them. They are continuing to die.

 

In the last 30 years of service the Pastor has had a unanimous decision. I have served here sense '82(?) as Associate with the same result. The result must be unanimous. If the vote were 89 to 11 for replacement, the Church would then debate until it reaches a unanimous vote for or against. This has resulted in a very bad split a couple of times in the past.

In my tenure we have had a preacher that was a member of our Church we let lead a Cottage Prayer Meeting/Revival that seemed to catch fire. At the yearly vote some wanted to make him pastor. During the voting it came to light by some women that he had made some unwelcome remarks and even touching to and of them. Still he drew less than 50% of the vote and the congregation could not reach a majority. This debate drew on for weeks and the women's allegations grew stronger by evidence. Still some wound up leaving our Church with him to start their own. Several months into that church's existence he started his groping again and the church, he founded, had to excommunicate him.

Our Congregation, though standing firm on God's Word has yet to recover because of his deeds in our community. :tear:

 

The Pastor and I are in this service voluntarily. We will serve at what ever capacity this congregation needs us. We have no fear of loosing our "jobs" and will never fear of standing on the way the Spirit shall move us. And yes if we were to have a situation arise as did Moses we would still serve God and do what is expedient for the will of God for it.

 

I am unclear about this. Does this mean that you would allow the congregationto determine the way the Holy Spirit moves you? I am not necessarily disapproving, just wondering.