Keys to a Long Pastorate
Stewart Pierson
April 1, 1984
I was planning Eleanor's funeral when I realized how long I had been part of the life of her family. I had buried Eleanor's husband, performed the marriages of her two granddaughters, and baptized her only great-grandchild. Now after eleven years here, I was working with her daughter on her funeral. I have become a fixture to Eleanor's family. I feel myself becoming a fixture to other families as well.
Long tenures in parish ministry are puzzling. As we watch others who stay on and on, we cannot help but wonder if something has gone amiss in their career. Long-tenured incumbents seem abnormal in a culture accustomed to three-year shifts and upward mobility.
Starting a new ministry has challenges, but so does staying year after year. Here are some of the struggles unique to long-term pastors.
A Special Call and the Long Haul
When pastors first arrive, there is always some issue they feel especially pressed to resolve. Sometimes the issue is falling membership and attendance; sometimes there are splits within the church family over worship forms or social involvement. In my case the call was to rebuild a church that had been severely flooded.
When the rebuilding project was complete, I began to feel I had met the terms of my call and that now I might enjoy the fruits of my labor. Of course, a new "call" was then extended: to help the church finance its rebuilding effort and then rediscover its mission after this preoccupation with bricks and mortar. Later the call became to manage a growing lay ministry as financial pressures changed the old pattern of paid ministry. Just when this call seemed to have been fulfilled, we had a fire and were once again plunged into the call of bricks and mortar.
During each of these waves, I found ...
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