Why are there so many pastors active on the Baptist Board?

For me, the board is a good place to relax and learn. People just don't know what it is like to
walk in a pastors shoes.
One minute your celebrating a birth and then the next you walk right into a funeral home.
You are always on call, much like a doctor, but I think the pay is a little different

Steve

 

You taking resumes???

 

There are probably more pastors who post than non-pastors because laymen like myself haven't always studied out the particular issues in enough depth to elucidate them as well as a pastor can.

 

Hey, you forgot to put the little laughing heads in. There!

 

Our last pastor was only required to show up twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday night for a full time salary of 33,000.
He was allowed to work a full time job outside the church so he could pay off the bills he accumulated due to his complusive spending.

{He was also given 2,000 cash to get caught up on the payments on his idols so he wouldn't lose them.}


He was not showing up much more than this before the church put him on the dole anyway.

This went on for a year before he said "The Lord is leading me to move on."

Funny thing was that him not being at the church made no difference and some people did not even know this charity was going on.

The pastor before him got to where he didn't even show up on Sun. nite or Wed. nite.

Just on Sunday to preach a recycled sermon and pick up his paycheck.

We didn't bother with an interim when the last fellow left town.

You couldn't even tell he was gone.

Now, I'm sure all you pastors who spend a lot of time on this board are giving your congregation a fair shake, but 6 out of the last 8 pastors I have known well have had serious problems with ethics.

3 of the 6 have been ushered out due to chronic absenteesism or outright thievery.
The other three knew it was time to go before they were canned.

I get sick of pastors whining about how hard they work, though some actually do.

I get sick of you whining about how underpaid you are, though some of you are.

If you who whine don't like it, get another job.

Although you might have to post on your own time if your employer keeps an eye on things.

But may God truly bless those of you who serve with a clear conscience out of love for the Lord, a workman approved, not ashamed.

MR

 

MR,

I have to tell you that it really saddened me to read of your church's problems with pastors.....

I am further saddened as I detect the note of bitterness in your posts. In my experience, most of the pastors I know sacrifice heavily of their time, money, and talent in order to serve God in the capacity to which He has called us.

I have to ask though, and this is not meant to be offensive in any way to you; as you are a member of a Baptist church....perhaps you all need to re-think your method of hiring pastors?

 

MR,

I am sad to hear that you have had such a bad experience with pastors as well. Having worked with quite a few pastors myself, your situation has been hardly what I would call my experience.

It is sad to say there are people in the world like that.

 

Thank you for your understanding mcgymer and Saggywoman.
Dr. Bob has been privy to some of the story and has also lent moral support.
I'm sorry if the bitterness shows through.

This is from seeing good godly people who I love very much taken advantage of.
Their eyes were open by the time he left.

mcgyver, only two of these scoundrels were pastors at my church. We're not quite that inept, but close.

{The pastor preceding the last two split the church! Most of us weren't here for that one.}

The others are scoundrels from other churches.

We have indeed improved our search procedures,though.

I was elected to this most recent search committee and took on the duty of background searches.

I left no rock unturned, spent much time in prayer and many hours on the phone.
I spent my own money to hire an agency to dig even deeper.

I got references from references from references.

99% of lowlife pastors get hired because search committees did not do the job properly.

The man God has chosen for us will be here from Virginia the first of April.

I hope he will restore my trust in pastors.
I no longer give them the benefit of the doubt, though I should.

I am truly glad you have not had any such experiences. It has been very painful and the damage done here can still be felt.


MR

 

Knowing my pastors schedule,and what all he does I've often wondered how pastors can spend so much time here. My pastor works 4 days a week, 9 to 4 at church, off on Mondays and Saturdays, then works Sundays, plus Wednesdays nights, and anytime he is needed for whatever meetings.

 

MR,

First of all I give praise and glory to God for your faithfulness in the discharge of your duties, and your faithfulness in prayer!

When I was called to pastor our church a little less than three years ago, I walked into a hurt, broken church that had suffered something very similar. The first time I preached here we had a total of four, and I managed to run two of them off for the evening service.

God has healed our fellowship, has put His fire in the heart of His saints, and we are now a vibrant, healthy, and committed to do God's will in our community.....Keep the faith brother! God still works miracles today!

As far as me......I'm a lamb with a bell on.

 

I think most pastors would admit that the pastorate is a position that is easy to take advantage of at times. And probably all of us have done it to an extent at times. And a few that have done it in a major way give the rest of pastors a bad reputation and name.

However, that problem is just not limited to ministry. Many jobs and situations are easy to take advantage of as well. So I would be careful in just focusing that issue on pastors. Pastors just seem to be an easy target for folks as everyone has their own concept and ideas of what a pastor's day and week should look like.

And I would also add that in our world of high speed internet and quick computers it is rather simple and does not take very long at all to hop on the BB and post a few messages. I will often take a few breaks from studying to clear my mind and let something soak it and post a few messages on the board during the day. In 10-15 mins you can post quite a bit. And anyone that does not think I do my job and put my time in is welcome to come on over and spend the week with me.

 

Not in NT churches. They may have teaching elders and ruling elders and deacons, but there are only two NT offices. Pastor and elder are the same one (cf Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-1).

I totally agree with this.

Many pastors days off are spent studying at home. I have recently began to enforce my day off. In my first six years here, I took fewer than 30 days off. I got convicted about that. Now I take a day off and I force myself to read and study nothing that has to do with church. I don't read theology (apart from my Bible). I don't think about church stuff. I do other things.

 

Don't forget about the "bishops", though we don't see too many here at the BB.

KJV 1 Timothy 3:1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

HankD

 

For these churches who get burned by lazy pastors I have to wonder what thier interviews with the pulpit commitee was like and what the commitee focused on.I also wonder what else is going on in those churches.

 

Not to belabor an off topic point, but the NT makes clear that there are two offices: Pastor/elder/overseer (or bishop for those who prefer it) and deacon.

1 Peter 5:1-2 and Acts 20:28 tell us clearly that all three roles belong to the same person. In both places, the elders are told to pastor and oversee. "Elder" refers to his character; it is not a "job." "Pastor" and "overseer" (bishop) refer to his responsibilities.

 

Gib, it seems that you may hold the record for the most number of posts. How much time do YOU spend in front of your computer?

 

I'm a deacon at my church, but I never found it necessary to tell anyone (until now anyway) on a discussion board.