The Elephant of Ministry

There is an interesting phenomenon going on currently in America concerning the health of the church and Christian ministry. Every week there is a new article or news item or blog about the problems facing pastors. My wife, Bev, and I are deeply interested in these issues because we are part of the ‘cottage industry’ of providing care, support and ministry to pastoral couples.
But as we sit in our comfortable mountain valley, in many ways a long distance from these problems, we are reminded of the old story of a group of blind people confronted by an elephant and asked to describe what they find out about this animal. Of course each doesn’t have time to completely study the animal, and their primary means of experiencing it is by touch. So one only feels the trunk, another the ears, and still another the tail. When they report on their individual findings, they are all different and at odds with each other, and yet . . . each accurately describes what they have experienced. Because they don’t know all the facts or all the experiences, their individual conclusions are false. We all can laugh at the silly conclusions that they come to because we have seen a complete elephant and therefore know what they really are like. But often we are caught in the same situation, judging a ministry or a pastor or a pastor’s spouse only on our limited experience with them.
When I read these reports of gloom and doom concerning pastoral ministry I am not sure that I am receiving the complete picture. First off, yes, there are problems in the ministry today. Ministry has never been easy and with the pressures and changes in our society the difficulties have only increased. There are many pastors who leave the ministry for multiple reasons, there are clergy marriages that are falling apart and clergy children who are in trouble spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But that is not the complete story. These truths are only one part of a very large animal that we are trying to describe.
My perception of clergy health and well being is different from the dark statistics that are currently given. In the last 11 years of working directly with pastoral couples, I have counseled some couples who were gong through some very dark waters. Even in my own pastoral ministry of 23 years, I experienced the difficulties and stresses of modern ministry. But I have also met, talked with, laughed with, and prayed with many pastors, who are strong emotionally, physically and spiritually. In short, there are healthy clergy and clergy couples in America today. And that is not an oxymoron. They are leading worship every Sunday, and sometimes Saturday’s. They are building buildings, teaching small groups, impacting lives and families and staying healthy in the process.
Are they tired? Yes. Are they experiencing some burnout? Yes. Have they considered leaving their church ministry? Yes. Have they left? Yes. Have they returned? Yes. Are they going to continue in ministry? Yes.
What Bev and I have seen, in the couples whom we have come to love and admire, is people who, in a sense, have seen the dark side and have decided there is a better way. Some have been presented with the false dichotomy of “burn out or rust out for the Lord,” and have found a middle ground. Some have experienced heart breaking tragedy in their families and ministries and yet have kept going. They have learned the lesson that ministry is not a short term gig but a long term commitment. More like running an ultra marathon than a 40 yard sprint.
Recently I finished reading No Short Cuts to the Top[1], by Ed Viesturs. This is his story about climbing all 14 of the world’s highest peaks without supplemental oxygen. His personal commitment and motto for climbing struck me as important for long term pastoral ministry. His rule is simply stated, “Reaching the summit is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” To accomplish this he carefully plans all his climbs, and then works his plan. He is intentional about taking care of his energy use and the conditions of the mountains. Most important he is willing to stop a climb if he believes that he won’t be able to come down off the mountain. He shows us, who are pastors, a way to be in ministry for the long haul and remain healthy enough to endure all the rigors of pastoral life. Translated his example would be, “doing ministry and leading a church is optional, having a vibrant, spiritually alive, deepening walk with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and a vibrant, healthy, loving marriage and as much as it depends upon us with our family is mandatory.” God has given us the spiritual gifts to do ministry. He has gifted us with the personal abilities to do ministry and he expects us to use these gifts wisely. God wants us to not only do ministry and lead a church well, but He wants us to be faithful to Him and His call in our lives until the end, that is mandatory.
From where I sit on the back porch of Genesee Home in beautiful Genesee Valley, CA, ministry is alive, well and flourishing as we begin this new millennium. In our last five years of ministry with pastors, 44.5% of all pastors we have served have been in ministry at least 27 years, another 21% have been in ministry at least 17 years and another 15% have been in ministry for at least 37 years. Among those statistics we have had many pastors who have been at their current church for more than 15 years!
One story can be an example of the health of Christian ministry. Pastor Alan and Beverly Ginn, have served their congregation, Chinese Grace Bible Church of Sacramento, for the last 30 years. While at Chinese Grace Bible they served as the senior pastor as well as the English pastor. Shortly after their retirement from active leading of a congregation, we sat together watching a special video and looking at the scrapbook of a wonderful celebration their church gave them, I noted something about their ministry. On every page Alan or Beverly would say, that young person is in ministry, or that one is pastoring a church, or we mentored them 10 years ago. They also pointed out many other pastors who were mentors and pastors in their lives as well. Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I asked, “Alan, through the years how many young people have you mentored that are now in active ministry as pastors or missionaries?” His answer was about 20 people. And Alan has been mentored by 9 different pastors and missionaries.
Then Beverly spoke up and said, “But it is not over – the Lord gave me a verse for the next years of our ministry. Isaiah 43:18, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.’ We can glance back with a grateful heart to God for His goodness and faithfulness over the years. But we look to the East, to the sun rising… anticipating that there’s more ahead, new ministries and fruit from a God that does more than we can ever imagine!”
You see the rest of the story of this wonderful pastoral couple is that they are not simply retiring from a local church, they are changing to a new area of ministry: leadership training and development of local church pastors in Asia. So from our limited experience of “the elephant” we would say that there are many clergy and clergy spouses who are healthy, thriving and enjoying ministry in this new millennium, of which the Ginns are one example.
One thing should be added to these ideas. The pastors we have gotten to know in the last 11 years of our ministry who are healthy and thriving in ministry are pastors who are intentional about taking care of themselves. They know their limitations and they make allowances for those limitations. They understand that they don’t work for the church, but that they work for a loving Father and a faithful Savior empowered by the Holy Spirit. They understand that ministry is what God does in the lives of their communities not what they do. They know the value of Sabbath and practice it on regular basis. They not only take time to grow spiritually, they take time for family and for their own physical health.
[1] Viesturs, Ed with Roberts, David. No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World’s 14 Highest Peaks, copyright 2006; Published by Broadway Books; New York, New York.