October is Pastor Appreciation Month! Check Out Our Contest!

Write a letter, win your pastor a vacation!

October is National Pastor Appreciation month and Metro Voice wants to honor pastors for their tireless work. In First Timothy it says, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.  For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain,'”–1 Timothy 5:17-18.

Through Oct. 20, Metro Voice is holding a “Pastor Appreciation Contest”. See details at right. But, first, recent surveys of pastors find they are some of the most stressed and least appreciated workers in God’s kingdom. The survey, by the Schaeffer Institute, found:

Hours

• 90% of pastors report working between 55 to 75 hours per week.
• 50% feel unable to meet job demands.

Training and Preparedness

• 90% feel they are inadequately trained to cope with the ministry demands.
• 90% of pastors said the ministry was completely different than what they 
thought it would be like before they entered the ministry.

Health and Well-Being

• 70% of pastors fight depression.
• 50% of pastors feel so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if 
they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Marriage and Family

• 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families.
• 80% of spouses feel the pastor is overworked.
• 80% spouses feel left out and under-appreciated by church members.

Church Relationships

• 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend.
• 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month.
• #1 reason pastors leave the ministry — Church people are not willing to go the same direction and goal of the pastor. Pastors believe God wants them to go in one direction but the people are not willing to follow or change.

Longevity

• 50% of new ministers will not last 5 years.
• 1,700 pastors leave ministry every month.
• 1 out of every 10 retire as a minister.
• 4,000 new churches begin each year and 7,000 churches close.

Troubling statistics aren’t they? And don’t be fooled. Your pastor may be feeling one, if not several, of the above sentiments.