From The Editors
Marshall Shelley
January 1, 1989
Editors, like pastors, see a lot of mail. Much of it-news releases about Animal Awareness Day or brochures about cordless pulpit telephones-doesn't demand much time.
But other items we linger over: submissions by our cartoonists (tough work, but somebody has to do it . . .), and letters from our readers. We read every word of feedback and tabulate every response on the Reader Survey (see page 139).
A couple of issues ago, the survey included an open-ended question: What has been the worst crisis you've had in your ministry? The responses were eye-opening. I began asking the same question as I visited pastors.
Responses fell into four categories:
1. Organizational crises, usually congregational conflict or decline in attendance, giving, or both. Wrote one pastor: "My worst crises are periods of discouragement when I don't know if the church will survive. And when my own vision wanes."
Another pointed out that such crises are caused by both external and internal factors: "I'm trying to work with proud, insensitive leaders while dealing with my own pride."
2. Personal crises, usually health or family problems.
"My worst crisis? Whom to marry after my wife died. I saw my ministry being affected because I was unmarried. In thirty-plus years, I'd never considered this situation. How does a Christian leader, over 55, go about it? I was suddenly in a wholly different world."
Other pastors struggled with cancer, divorce, the loss of a child, whether through death or rebellion. "It took years to reestablish a sense of competence in ministry," said one.
3. Career crises, such as being forced to resign or, sometimes equally agonizing, trying to decide when it's time to leave even in the absence of hostilities.
One pastor is facing a tough decision: ...
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