Frustrated with my pastor because it seems like he's never preaching.

I think you need to let go of your pastor. If services are still being conducted then it should be OK. Or is there something wrong with the services?

LoriLu05 said:

I been attending this church for a few years. Right after I started coming, there was a little bit of a church scandal with the pastor and he ended up stepping down. The church has since gotten an new pastor and I really like him and I like his sermons. The issue I'm having is it seems like he isn't preaching as often as he used to. So basically this entire past summer he preached a handful of times. He started a new bible study on Wednesday nights which I started going to and he only taught one study and the rest of the studies were done by the associate pastor which disappointed me. I understand that pastors need time off and take vacations. He hasn't preached for the last month. He and his wife just got back from vacation and this would be his first Sunday back and instead of preaching, he had a guest speaker. I'm just really disappointed. Being connected to my pastor and my church family is very important to me. And right now it just feels a little distant. I was thinking of maybe church shopping, but I don't really want to. Am I wrong to feel this way?

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First of all, don't put your pastor on such a pedestal. Church is about the worship of God, not the man leading worship. Second of all, if you have an issue say something to one of the elders. It's entirely possible that there's a good reason why he hasn't been preaching as much that you simply aren't privy to yet.

There's plenty more a pastor needs to do than preach. There's administering the church, there's time for his family, plus there's weddings and funerals and care visits. Since my church has the size, we actually split the church responsibilities between multiple pastors. We have a good senior teaching pastor who does a lot of preaching, but there's a rotation so he doesn't do all the preaching. Why? Because he's human, and humans need breaks and balance. It's good that you love your pastor when he speaks. Part of loving your pastor though, is giving him space to rest.

LoriLu05 said:

I was thinking of maybe church shopping, but I don't really want to.

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It sounds like you are already a member of a good church.

Think we need to attend where God wants us.

One function of the church is to equip the saints. Eph 4

With any query about ministers of church practices the answer is always to talk to them.
He has been employed to preach, so ask him why he isn't.
If you don't like his answer, talk to the church elders.
If you don't like what they tell you, you will have to leave.

What about - sure have been missing your sermons.

Some questions occur to me:

How big is your church? (If it's a large church - by which I mean more than about 200 people - expecting to feel personally connected to your pastor might not be reasonable, and you might need to look more to small groups etc for that kind of church connection).

Is part of your issue the quality of sermons that you're getting, or just that you think your lead pastor ought to be preaching? (Ie. Are you upset because when he doesn't preach the sermons are bad?)

What else helps you feel connected to your church, besides preaching? Is maybe some other aspect of church life able to meet that need for you?

Personally, I think the responsibility of your lead pastor is to make sure that good preaching happens, but that doesn't mean it's his responsibility to do all of it. Sharing the load with an associate and guests is a good way to enrich the teaching ministry of the church.

FWIW, I just got back from leave and had a guest preacher my first Sunday back; that gave me the freedom to catch up on all the administrative backlog from my time away!

Hello,

In my local church, the lead Pastor does not always preach. He delegates the work to associate Pastor and to some leaders. There are Sundays that we have a guest speaker.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-12)

If you think you need to talk to your Pastor regarding this, please do so.

Thank you for sharing, God bless.

Redwingfan9 said:

First of all, don't put your pastor on such a pedestal. Church is about the worship of God, not the man leading worship. Second of all, if you have an issue say something to one of the elders. It's entirely possible that there's a good reason why he hasn't been preaching as much that you simply aren't privy to yet.

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Good reply! There may well be good reason why the preacher is not doing as one supposes he should; and also he may not be a sound Bible teacher??? Certainly one should not exalt a leader of the congregation as having all wisdom and answers. A "pastor" means a shepherd, and if one is Godly that one may serve well in encouraging the saints and guiding them, rather than preaching. God has given "teachers", "pastors", and "evangelists" (in the plural) to an assembly gathering, and a preacher may not have all the gifts. I could speak more on this if you would like to contact me about gifts as given in the Bible. Read and pray much, friend!