1,500 pastors leave their churches every month in the United States because of conflict, burnout, or moral failure. Help keep your pastor from becoming part of that statistic. Use every available resource to encourage, support, and partner with your pastor. This ezine and www.My-Pastor.com give you a good start toward effectively ministering to your minister.

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Date: February 1, 2012

Issue Number 031

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YOUR PASTOR MAY BE LEAVING SOON

The current average pastorate lasts somewhere between three and four years. If your pastor has been at your church for more than a couple years, there is a strong possibility that he will be leaving soon.

What Can You Do to Stop Your Pastor from Leaving?

1) Resolve conflict in your church. One of the biggest reasons pastors leave their congregations is because there is unresolved conflict that terrorizes the congregation. It is completely mystifying to pastors that people who claim to be Christian can hold grudges, justify hostility, and openly criticize each other. This creates great frustration for your pastor.

2) Stop criticizing your pastor. Your pastor has faults... no one can deny that. But his faults don't need to become obstacles to teamwork. When someone openly criticizes a pastor, that breaks the unity in the body. Pastors are not perfect, and sometimes they need to be talked to regarding issues. However, the place to do this is during the week - privately. Don't write an anonymous letter. Don't talk to other people about it. Go directly to your pastor and have a calm conversation about the issue.

3) Actively support the mission of the church. Get involved. Don't sit on the sidelines. If chairs need to be set up for a special dinner - help out. If someone needs to be picked up for church, stop and get them. If your congregation is reaching out to the poor, get out there among them. Whatever you can do to help, offer to get involved.

4) Pray for your pastor and family every day. This may seem trite. But it is a fact that this is the very best thing you can do for your pastor. He will stay at your church longer as more people spend more time praying for him.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

I recently started a new web site: Christian-Resources.net. The site is devoted to providing information, reviews, and links to the most sought after Christian information on the web.

Take a look.

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What's New?

I have an eBook that discusses in greater detail the issues of pastor burnout. It is the Pastor Burnout Workbook. Whether you are a pastor or a person in the congregation, this workbook will help you understand and defeat burnout. Get yours now!

Thanks for ministering to your minister!