It’s a scene straight out of the Little House Books or a Norman Rockwell painting. As people leave a little white country church on Sunday, the Pastor greets each congregant on their way out the door. He knows all their names and all their needs and has a succinct and clever way of handling each one in a personable way. He is the one and only Pastor for the church (and possibly the town), and can adeptly handle not only all spiritual matters but also administration, maintenance, business and a host of other issues related to the church. He literally can do it all. While this may have become the idealized notion of what church looks like in Americana, we need to ask the question if it is Biblical (or practical) for our day and age.
The reality is that MOST churches (about 55%) in the United States have a single Pastor. A little more than half of these are bi-vocational because the church size and finances simply can’t support a full-time salary. Once a church’s attendance grows above a certain threshold, however, a single Pastor can quickly become overworked and overwhelmed. Many Pastors regularly consider quitting the ministry due to the stress. According to a survey by Lifeway Research , here are some of the reasons why:
- 84% are on call 24 hours a day
- 48% feel the demands of ministry are more than they can handle
- 21% say their church has unrealistic expectations of them
While small churches must rely on a single Pastor, we find a different model in Scripture. Jesus had his Apostles who assisted in the ministry. Paul had one or more companions with him through most of his missionary journeys. Many of the early churches had more than one elder (which is another term for Pastor) which were sharing the ministry and leadership burden. It’s important to note that not all these were supported fully by the churches where they ministered. Notoriously, we know that Paul worked as a tentmaker to help pay the bills. This model of having more than one Pastors in a church (even though they might not draw a full-time salary) is clearly found in Scripture. Why might this “team” approach to ministry be important? Here are some of my thoughts on the matter:
Diversity of Gifts – No matter how educated and talented and gifted a particular Pastor may be, he will always be lacking in some areas. That is why Paul tells us that “he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12). God doesn't give one man ALL of the gifts needed for the church. Churches need a variety of leaders with a diversity of gifts in order to be fully effective in the work of the ministry.
Division of Work – No matter how many hours your Pastor puts in each week, there will always be more to do. Sometimes others will point out what the Pastor doesn’t get done and other times he will beat himself up over it. Either way, the Pastor needs help in the work of the ministry. Even the apostle Paul needed help from other ministry leaders to accomplish all the work that needed to be done (see 2 Timothy 4:11).
Development of Support – No matter how much prayer support and words of encouragement that may come from their congregation, a Pastor must maintain his primary role of being a support TO THEM first and foremost. When another Pastor joins the ministry team, there is the opportunity for accountability and encouragement that can only come from one Pastor to another.
In offering these thoughts, I’m not suggesting that the entire church framework is about to collapse or that a church is handicapped with a single Pastor. If God has given you a smaller church with a single Pastor, then He has equipped that Pastor with what he needs (by God’s grace) to accomplish His purposes there. But, as a church begins to grow and its needs expand, recognize that your Pastor may need help and that your church may need a some things for further growth that your Pastor can't provide. Be looking for that opportunity to add to your Pastoral team when you are able (even if it is not a paid position). This a biblical response for ministry as God opens doors. It takes a team!
References: https://research.lifeway.com/2019/07/10/pastors-are-not-quitting-in-droves-2/