Is It Work?
Photo by Steven Shircliff on Unsplash
The Real Crisis In The Church
by Eric Elkin
In these last days of summer, a question about my work week started to surface in my house. Friday is the day I take as my day off. My wife went to great lengths to ensure she got as many Fridays off as possible. This move would make sure we had one day together. However, I have spent the summer golfing on Fridays with a group of men from my congregation.
The question that arose was, if I was not going to be around for a significant portion of Friday, was it still worth Peggy taking that day off? Friday is a desired day to be off at Peg's work. It insures a person of having a 3-day weekend. Peg's co-workers are aware of how many days she is getting, and she wants to be respectful of other people. When I pushed back, she pointed out that I leave the house at 6:30 am, get home at 1:00 pm, take a nap, and am ready to go by 2:00 pm. What are we doing together besides going out for dinner?
Then a second question arose: is golfing with the guys from church time off or work? I don't want to give the impression that it's a lot of work to be around the Friday golf crowd. It is not. They are an extremely enjoyable group. As a matter of fact, golfing with them does not feel like work. However, my job is to build relationships with people inside and outside the congregation. So, yes, it is work.
What is work and not work was an issue on my mind when I read the scripture passage for the day. In the reading, Paul, Silas, and Timothy work "night and day" to proclaim the gospel of God. The words made me wonder how many hours they worked a week and what the work was like? And, is working night and day a good thing?
If you are a congregation member reading this, please understand this is not a reflection of my desire to be paid more or work less. The concerns I raise are for the generations of pastors coming into (or not coming into) the clergy profession. Over the past 5-6 years, I have watched more and more young pastors leave the ministry for corporate jobs. Not because they lost their faith. They don't want to work night and day under the scrutiny of a congregation.
The issue is not about pay but time. The average work week for a pastor is estimated to be 50-65 hours a week with one day off. (Note: The average work week for a corporate CEO is 62 hrs a week with a slightly different compensation package). A large portion of a pastor's work week is in the evenings or when volunteers are off. This schedule is not easy on a marriage or does not create great family time. Unless your wife and family spend a significant amount of time at Church. Younger clergy are discovering when they find a job outside the Church, they get paid more money to work fewer hours. More importantly, they have more time for their spouse and children.
The Church, across denominational identity, is in crisis. Not because people are leaving the Christian faith. Our crisis is leadership. We are losing our best, brightest young pastors to professions that offer better life-giving boundaries. How could the early Church grow without Paul, Silas, and Timothy? Did they really work day and night, or was that just hyperbole? More importantly, do young clergy need to work day and night now to build a dynamic congregation? I don't think they do.
Click to read 1 Thessalonians 2: 9-13