I’m thinking about the area of ministry that I know best: parish pastor. What I’m about to write has parallels, I’m sure, in other ministries in our church body. I leave it to others to contemplate those possibilities. My question here is simply this: How many hats does the pastor wear? Consider the following:
Nobody but a politician does more public speaking than a pastor.
Nobody but a CEO makes more administrative decisions than a pastor.
Nobody but a psychologist does more counseling than a pastor.
Nobody but a doctor makes more hospital visits than a pastor.
Nobody but an undertaker conducts more funerals than a pastor.
Nobody but a teacher teaches more classes than a pastor.
Nobody but a justice of the peace officiates at more weddings than a pastor.
The list could go on. Can you think of any to add?
To add further complexity to the picture: The congregation that the pastor serves could be fewer than a hundred or several thousand people – in a city, in a suburb, in a rural setting – with people who are dirt poor or filthy rich, so to speak – and every other variable that you can think of. The way that pastoral ministry happens varies widely (as it should) from place to place, from setting to setting. There is no such thing as “THE parish ministry.” There is parish ministry, or local church ministry as some prefer to call it, but each ministry is unique.
One of my early mentors in ministry told me, “There is no other profession in which you can stay in the same ‘business’ and have the possibility of doing so many different things.” In parish ministry, the pastor can use every spiritual gift and natural talent he has. That’s the agony and the ecstasy of parish ministry. You can use everything you’ve got, and then some. It’s agony when you feel totally stressed out and exhausted. It’s ecstasy when you see and feel that delicious connection between what you have to offer and what the ministry needs.
The pastor wears many hats, but he has one Head: Jesus Christ. Serving Him – the One who gave His all for us and for our salvation – is a great and wondrous joy.
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No one but a plumber plunges more toilets than a pastor
No one but a Sunday School teacher sings "Jesus loves me" than a pastor.
No one but a locksmith unlocks more doors than a pastor.
Regarding Linda Dybwad's post, I would say that I am trying to describe pastoral ministry as it is, not necessarily as it ideally ought to be and/or may be in some congregations. Most pastors of small congregations are in fact the chief administrator, not because they want control and ownership (that belongs to Jesus Christ alone!) but because they are expected to carry out this role. The pastor doesn't have to do all the administrative stuff to keep things running smoothly, but in many cases and places he has to make sure that it gets done. It's a matter of practical reality. Is that as it should be? Maybe not, but sometimes it has to be that way, and the people of the congregation -- many of whom have very busy and demanding lives and occupations -- appreciate it.
And then, there is the family - and more! I tried to compartmentalize my time to be more effective in sermonizing, visitations, counseling, meetings, et al. I could not be 100 percent effective in any single area; choosing 20 % of my time for sermonizing left a greater percentage of time unfulfilled. True for every portion of ministry "compartmentalized"!!
Thank God for the requirement that a steward be found faithful - faithful to the Lord Jesus, to the sharing of His Good News, and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit for each day's task. Christ is risen!
Responding to Coachrev regarding expectations of the church members concerning the pastor's role: One thing I found helpful was to put the lay leadership through a process of ranking that included individual mathematical ratings of various areas of ministry, group discussion of the top items that emerged from the aggregate of those individual ratings, then another round of ranking by mathematical ratings, another group discussion based on the aggregate of those ratings, and a final consensus on the top-priority expectations that the leadership had of the pastor. The master list I developed had about 30 items on it as I recall, and the group whittled it down to the top seven, which was a workable number. That did not mean that the other 23 items got no attention, but it did mean that there was agreement on what I was expected to do first and foremost, even if something else got done later by me, or by someone else, or in some cases not at all. The mathematical ratings gave the process some objectivity, while the discussion allowed for interpersonal exchanges. This process is based on something called the Nominal Group Technique, and it can be very helpful for setting priorities.