What does a pastor do in a week

Don't get me wrong I like my Pastor we have golf together (visiting the greens its called) many times. I am just not buying that the ministry for the most part is so rough today. That preachers are overworked.

I tell you my pastor is a very brillant young man, not many could stack up to him. A grad from DBTS and one of the best preachers I have heard in my lifetime. When he takes time to prepare his messages people just walk out of there change in some way or the other as the word works in their lives.

I am not meaning this to be cruel or hatefull it just is that way. What part have I lied about. Hey I have had some easy jobs and I would be the first to tell you. I didn't complain about them though. I also know that some people get jealous. I went to school full time for CAD paid for by GM. Did not go to work but went to school full time. GM sent me a check every week to my house. Now I only told friends about this because I found out fast that other people did not appreciate my good fortune. What I am saying is that it doesn't matter to me thats great that pastors have privilaeges or liberties that most don't have on their jobs. Just stating thats all. My wife is the church sec. she works 7 days a week because we have 6 pastors but one sec. She does it as a ministry. It really is to her. And she enjoys it.

 

Like I said, it depends on the pastor. BTW, welcome to the Baptist Board.

Joseph Botwinick

 

One thing I noticed when I started out, more than 50 years ago, is that churches did not have a job description to hand new pastors. Most companies have job descriptions for new executives. We need to know what a congregation expects of us.

If a church didn't have one, I sat down with the deacons and put one together. It can solve a lot of problems before they get started.

A time out is mandatory, if one is to survive. I used to walk a golf course on Mondays...I don't play the game, but it was a nice place just to think and get away.

In the early days, there was only one pastor, even in churches up to 500 members. I am afraid we did it all, friends. I can remember working on sermons at 3 in the morning; the only quiet time. I wrote my sermons Friday-Sunday; taught adult Bible class and preached both services. There was no computer in those days. I used an old manual typewriter and pecked away...I have two overdeveloped fingers on each hand (smile).

I organized the deacons to handle visitations by dividing the members to them. I handled all the vistors and non-members, the ill, hospital or home.

In my last 25 years, I taught at the university two days a week along with regular church functions, wrote courses for a local Native Bible College, was chaplain for a WW2 veterans group and the local fire department. I did manage to keep busy.

Now I am in retirement at 78 years of age and I only preach once or twice a month, visit two nursing homes, provide services for a battered woman's home and still write courses of study for the Bible College. I also write up to three letters each day to couples whom I married; reaching each couple once a year. In short, I manage to remain busy. Something I thought was a given in ministry. Yes, I kept my study at home. Most churches then had a closet under a staircase for a church office. It is like paradise to-day in modern churches.

Cheers, and fellow pastors keep prayed up, studied up, alert to what is happening and keep moving....at least every four or five years (smile)

Jim

 

I guess I will sound like the devil.. but here goes....

I am pushing 21 years now as evangelist and church planter-pastor. Bivocational work has been the norm for me, having been full-time only about 6 years of the 21.
Honestly, I dont have a schedule that I follow. I spend my weekdays in one city with the counseling and some visitation and just trying to minister to folks in an area with a large deaf population and only one pastor. Call me nuts, but I get my sermons from the Lord (not kidding, people think we are crazy when we say "God gave me a message"). Sermon preparation for a Sunday morning message is probably 2 hours, as I am pretty good at it and it does not require me laboring an entire day to develop something. Sunday night messages are done usually on Saturday. I visit on Saturdays in my church area.

Timtoolman made some comments that i think are kind of rough on those of us who work hard. However, there are some pastors who truly fit the description given by Tim. Since I am one of the few with a decent education, I receive emails and Instant Messaging from all over the country, and believe me, many of the pastors of those who contact me are quite lazy. Some earn far more than they should, and some are even full-time when their congregation is tiny but receives a generous amount of support from the "mother church". I spent a lot of time in the seminary and remember students who were truly hirelings who didnt care about anything other than themselves or their families. One of them ministered in a local church in our area near seminary. During the WORST of times for that church, when they were deeply in trouble financially, this man stood in a business meeting and laid down a "give me what I want or I am leaving" demand. Wanted a $10,000 a year raise now that he was officially holder of an M.Div degree. I worked in the maintenance department at school and was in and out of the dorms and the homes of pastors and their families. Some horror stories to tell,, but I will refrain.

The bad ones, and I am serious, the bad ones are far outnumbered by the good. The IFB churches MUST have a man with integrity since he is given more authority than the average SBC pastor. A bad IFB pastor is a terrible thing. more later....

 

Dr Tim, I was not talking about all pastors. I realize there are some who work very hard and are paid little or work another job to stay afloat. I know many small churches back near my hometown in Ohio that run 100-120 people and pay their pastor 60,000 plus. With tax breaks that is closer to a person who makes 65000 or more.

I was talking about the perks of being a pastor. Hey there are some jobs that have more perks also. CEO's who travel for the company and use the air miles for personal travel, or they get a free transportion etc.

To me (I say the grass always looks greener on the other side) full time would be wonderful. I like spending time with the church family and do make calls and visits. I teach a 5/6 grade boys classs and a young married class about 1 every 6 weeks or so. I have been working (except the last 4 months) 60-80 hrs a week. I don't get to take off whenever I want or when my boy has a game or daughter needs me. Many people in our church work harder then the pastors. Many professionals and blue collar workes who work more then 40 hours a week yet teach a class, work in awanas, have special jobs to take of the grounds, without pay, and other areas of ministry. Instead of the 10% doing 90% of the work I would say we have 80% of the people serving or one or two ministrys in out church. Unusaul for a baptist church I know but none the less true.

I would love to be full time but have not had the call. And don't get me wrong I am very thankful for my job at GM. It has feed the family very nicely.

Again I did not mean to paint with such a broad brush as to include all pastors.

 

Just a comment, not aimed at any person in particular.

I'm always leery of people especially Pastors who tell me how much they pray.

 

You sure must have a lot of time to standby and watch others work. Sounds like you know enough about roofing and pastoring to be dangerous.

[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]Nice jab. I have done both thank you. I made it clear that not all pastors have it made. You throw a rock at a pack of dogs and the one that yelps is usually the one that got hit.

And I knew there would be "all kinds" of exceptions on here from pastors.

 

I will admit, there are times when my husband (pastor) can be home with us and other dads/husbands cant. (like for lunch). Our church is small, so we have a more flexible schedule than pastors of larger churches. But then there are other times when Dads are home that pastors arent - and many dads can leave their work at work, and come home. In my estimation, a pastor cannot do that. It is all intertwined.
My husband has two masters degrees and is close to having his PhD, yet he makes no where near the salary that someone with that education would make in a secular position. Not that we mind it, its all part of the sacrifice. God has called us here, and we are very thankful for his provision. And there are other sacrifices, too. Evening meetings, counseling sessions, weddings, those "sheep petting" visits that are so vitally important to some church members, criticisms about superficial things, no medical insurance, no prospect of owning anything, all those are part of the sacrifice as well.
I do know there are some pastors who take advantage of their situations, and that sickens me.

 

Your employer pays your insurance, social security and retirement and any disability insurance. So you could add on about 25 percent to your salary. Then add on the cost of you housing including utilities. A pastor pays self employment tax of close to 16 percent. Included in the package is retirement, insurance and housing. Add your cost of housing, an additonal 8 percent your employer pays in social secuity, your retirement and compare that to his salary. That is more realisistic.


For example if you made 4 thousand per month. Your employer would pay 8% ($320.00) for social security. Your employer would usually pay 100 - 400 per month toward retirement. Cost of your housing including utilities would be about 1500.00 per month.

So a pastor who had a package of about 6,000 per month would have the same wages at the end as yourself if you were earning 4,000 per month. Typically you take 2/3 of what you are making and that would be equal to what a pastor makes if he had the same dollar package as your earnings. </font>[/QUOTE]That is great math. Sorry I have talk to one of the deacons (a good friend of mine) who is a stock broker. You take 60000 you pay the house payment, no federal tax taken out for that(the church pays this out of check). You write off you house for the ministry. The church pays the electric bill. You write off you car and meals as part of the ministy. Church gives a gas allowance, book allowance, school allowance for him and free school for kids(we have a private school). He goes to BJ to visit his kids, if he stays for graduation the church pays. I could go on and on. My home town church as I said pays their pastor 60000, flock of 120, wife teaches at the public school, all their expenses for the house are paid for.

By the way our church also pays employment tax for our pastors, I realize that may not be the norm in your area but around here it is. We have contacted many churchs (when I was a deacon) and found out what packages are being offered to pastors in our area. I am not speaking from the hip here I have been very involved in the ministry all my life.

 

Man, TIM - Who WOULDNT want to get that package?? We dont get any car allowance, or anything near what you described, but I know that larger churches do that. Our church did buy my husband a truck, though!

 

That is true Tater people can bust in on you at all times. You are right there. Criticisms, I face that at church and work all the time. As a union rep I was a low down, dirty, lieing piece of humanity that was being payed off by the company. I did take that home with me because it hurt.

You said a very refreshing statement above that you are thankful for his provision and for the sacrifices as well. That is a heart for ministry that says volumes. The fact that your husband has that much education and is at a small church seems to tell me it is not the pay but the place God wants me to minister. With those qaulifications he would be in big demand up here in MI.

 

I hope it was a GM.

 

And it never ceases to amaze me how pastors think they have it so bad or rough. Guess we are looking at it from different sides of the fence. I wonder what part of my statement that youi disagree with. Do they not have much more privaleges on their jobs then others? I am not saying they don't work, just saying that it is great to be in full time ministry yet many complain and grumble unless thei r people are praising them or falling all over them it seems at times. [/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]Tim you are welcome to your opinion. I realize there are pastors out there who have it easy and those who are lazy and give a bad reputation to all pastors. Yet there are some very faithful men who try to do things the right way as well, and quite frankly it gets rather old hearing all the pastor jokes and sarcasm about how easy we have it.

I had the opportunity this past spring to have a senior in High School come and do an internship with me. He was struggling with whether he was called into the ministry or not. He came into the class thinking it was going to be a breeze and it would be all fun and games. Yet when the class was over, he apologized to me and admitted he had no clue all of what a pastor did and what all it involved.

I think the majority of people in our churches have absolutely no clue about what a pastor really does. And I think if they would spend 6 months with one trying to do it the right way they would have a completely different attitude for pastors.

 

SBC I am not saying good or bad pastors. What I am saying mostly is that today they are well taken care of. It is a good "job" if we may call it that. When I was growing up pastors were maybe at or just above the proverty level. Today they have at least what the average worker has and more. The difference being that they are being PAID to serve the Lord. Not saying they shouldn't be either. I think to be a pastor you WILL have at least these characteristics. You love the Lord and you Love His people. (talking about a saved person CALLED to pastor) So now you are serving a person you love and working with people you love. If this is a chore to you or you think you are being slighted then I think you are in the wrong job.
Here is another thing that is true I believe. Since I was growing up all my Dad had to do was mention, the car broke down, the mower won't start, the funerace went out and guess what. Someone was there to fix, or replace it free of charge usually. It is the same way with the churches I have been in since my childhood. Pastor needs anything and it gets around he will have it.

I am just saying that it is a good job and MOST do not make much of a sacrifice. I am not saying that they shouldn't make good money. A pastor that has to struggle with finance and his church can pay him so that he doesn't have too, is in my opinion is not much of a church. No, pastors deserve a good pay as much or more then others. And not all pastors fit in the same mold. I know that.

Now I have explain myself twice pastor so if there is a particular spot or statement that you disagree with let me know.

 

My dad was a pastor, and I've known a lot of pastors. They work- HARD!! The emotional drain of being a pastor is also tremendous. My dad went to the office on weekdays like everyone else, studying, administrating, counseling, etc. He also visited the sick, went to evening meetings, got involved in our community preached on Sunday mornings and nights and on Wednesday nights, and sometimes led home Bible studies on other nights. And with all of that, he still received frequent midnight phone calls from the desperate, the suicidal, etc., and often took "strays" into our home. So, if you think pastors are spending all their time having long lunches or playing at home with their kids, think again. In fact, I wish my dad hadn't been quite so busy taking care of others so he'd had more time with me.