Recycling Pastors*
Good leadership is a limited resource that must be carefully nurtured and renewed. David McKenna advocates a great idea that could go far toward eliminating leadership frustration, waste, and break-down.
David L. McKenna
October 1, 1980
*(bishops, district superintendents, missionary field chairpersons, Christian education directors, parachurch administrators . … ) Good leadership is a limited resource that must be carefully nurtured and renewed. David McKenna advocates a great idea that could go far towards eliminating leadership frustration, waste, and break-down. My first model for the ministry was a barn| V \ storming preacher who thundered from the pulpit, "Bless God, I'd rather wear out than rust out." Guilt stalked me for years. Unless I was obsessively engaged in non-stop ministry that was leading onward and upward to the glory of early breakdown or death, I was cheating on my calling. A Sunday out of the pulpit twitted my conscience, a happy vacation stabbed at my soul, and any thought of a change from "full-time service" was condemned as the ultimate betrayal. Even good health provoked the question, "Am I doing my best for the kingdom of God?" If I wasn't wearing out, I must be rusting out. A Principle for Pastoral Renewal Few of us would subscribe to the view that a wornout pastor is the best pastor. Yet in practice, we are slow to change that astitude. For instance, pastoral leadership is assumed to be an unlimited resource. If a pastor dies, breaks down, drops out, or betrays the sacred trust, our grief is short because we assume that God always has others waiting in the wings. Such an assumption is only partially true. Certainly God will get his work done, but not at the expense of his creation. Equally certain is the fact that he has a special concern for those whom he has called and anointed to be his ministerial servants. Pastoral leadership is not an unlimited commodity to be used up andthrown away; it is a scarce and precious resource ...
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