When should a pastor step down?

Rather than wonder if he needs to go somewhere else, what you need to be doing is finding a good, 1-2 week-long get-away for him and his wife, at a conference and then a cruise, or something like that. Sounds like he's fed you and fed you (all of you, not just you), and now needs to be fed himself.

A pastor is a guide and sheperd not a motivational speaker. I see no need for this spark.

Hospes said:

If anyone, the leadership - including the pastor himself - should be discussing such matters.

BTW, they should also be discussing why he and his wife are together only on weekends; as a leader of a church, I'd find that a bit alarming.

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Not at all. When we joined our church, the pastor's wife lived in another state. She had worked in the school district for a long time and wanted to finish out her time and get full retirement. It only took about a year between him moving to our town/church and her following him, but I understood perfectly well why they did it. In this economy, it's ridiculous to turn down a full pension for the sake of 12 months.

I think you need to think about switching churches then trying to overthrow the pastor, this can cause a lot of drama in the church and can cause more pain then you can ever imagine.

a pastors job is to equip the saints, not so much to do all the work with a skip in his step. Maybe he's tired cus he does all the work.

An important question always to ask yourself in this situation would be. How would my pastor feel if he were standing beside me reading this now.

Please don't take this as an accusation, but it's a good lesson for the future. That is before you post a comment, like this one. Consider this situation... how would he feel if he could read this now.
I guess I could benefit from myself at times tbh.

But seriously, if he's a little beat up, non sparky, he's probably already thinking and praying about leaving himself.

So why don't you just leave God's ministers in his hands. Unless they have broken the laws of the country or brought the church into moral disrepute this is non of your business. I mean that in the most charitable way possible. Please again don't accept this as an accusation but as a constructive criticism. A lesson, in patience.

Wow, quite a response.

Something to think about.

From the website of Thom Rainey: Eight Negative Reasons Pastors Leave a Church This post might surprise you, the comments underneath it might surprise you more, and definitely bring you some insight. Dr. Rainey has done a lot of church consulting and troubleshooting he is a fantastic resource for pastors, a treasure. Reading his blog has made me see the bigger picture of the local church, and the unique challenges of being a pastor.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if pastors don't suffer more harassment from the Enemy than average.

The number one on the list of 8 reasons pastors leave a church is:

1. "Discouragement and frustration over critics in the church. Over thirty times this year pastors have contacted me to let me know they resigned from their church due to weariness over critics."

It's a short article, but again, I encourage you to read all the pastors' comments. Our pastors are our leaders. I feel we should always, always, have their backs, and be in their corner. If not us then who?
Here's a poem that has not made it to my blog yet, but I'll print it here to help you get some "spark".


God bless you and Shalom! Beth

I believe it is not any of your business whether he should step down or not. It's not you who called him!

Maybe he needs a respite and his wife home. I'm sorry but this post seems like you've swallowed the culture pill of young is better. I think a major problem with our society is younger people are so eager to sideline the elders not understanding they are casting out years of wisdom and experience. I don't mean to sound hateful but really, shame on you. Buy him some vitamins, send him to a retreat, but dont shun him. Im sorry but this callousness upset me. I shouldnt even have replied. consider it a rebuke because thats exactly what it is.

What happened to respect for the experience of older, more mature Christians - and the keeness to learn from that maturity?

In our denomination, Ministers have to move on between 3-5 years, which can be a real pain at times and we've just had a fantastic minister leave us. He was in his 30s and he and his wife had their first baby while with us. He brought energy and the most honest, deep compassion and desire to encourage everyone to live out our faith.

The minister before him was in his 80s and moved on to another church. He's just retiring now. He was always ready to laugh but not a 'bouncy' guy at that age. He brought with him a wealth of wisdom and knowledge as well as experience. He was deeply respected in the congregation.

Our new minister is between the two- married with older daughters- at least one adult. They'll be hitting the 'kids moving out' stage while they're with us. To even suggest that that would be a time to 'retire' - a long way off the retiring age of mid 60s- would be insulting in the extreme.

All of these ministers (and others) have had different gifts to offer- all have different approaches, all have different strengths. To brush off the value of two of those ministers simply because they aren't spring chickens is pretty awful.

I've no idea what denomination you're in - but over here older minsiters are preferred for many obvious reasons.

You want sparkle- go worship Edward Cullen.
You want Christian depth, experience, knowledge and wisdom- be humble enough to learn from those who have more of it many of us do!

Hetta said:

Not at all. When we joined our church, the pastor's wife lived in another state. She had worked in the school district for a long time and wanted to finish out her time and get full retirement. It only took about a year between him moving to our town/church and her following him, but I understood perfectly well why they did it. In this economy, it's ridiculous to turn down a full pension for the sake of 12 months.

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Maybe your right. I just wonder why a pastor that has been in a church for 11 years has a wife working far enough away that she is only home on weekends. Admittedly, there could be a good and temporary reason for it, but it nonetheless would be a concern. If I were one of his elders, I'd be checking on it.

GreatSpeckledBird said:

Maybe he needs a respite and his wife home. I'm sorry but this post seems like you've swallowed the culture pill of young is better. I think a major problem with our society is younger people are so eager to sideline the elders not understanding they are casting out years of wisdom and experience. I don't mean to sound hateful but really, shame on you. Buy him some vitamins, send him to a retreat, but dont shun him. Im sorry but this callousness upset me. I shouldnt even have replied. consider it a rebuke because thats exactly what it is.

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Hi Great.

You and I are about the same age, so I understand your reaction. I also am an elder in a church with lots of college age kids. (No offense meant in calling them kids, ) Just for your encouragement: I have found many of them very receptive to a more mature and well-seasoned believer showing interest in their lives and loving them. It's been a kick to do so and become something of adopted parents to them.

I also want to add to this thread I feel like the OP is against the fact he's not a young fresh pastor with young kids, it's all about the kids isn't it? wrong.

the Church needs to focus on its 18-29 age group BADLY.
if they don't the church will die.