“Help! I’m being eaten alive by a school of minnows.”
“I felt like I was being stoned to death by popcorn.”
Ask any pastor.
In my opinion, the minister of the medium-sized flock has it hardest.
In most cases, the pastor of the tiny church has one well-defined set of jobs, while the leader of the mega-congregation another entirely. The first has a few well-defined roles–preach, advise, do funerals and weddings–while his mega-church colleague has a vast team of helpers who free him up to doing his few, very specific assignments.
It’s the poor guy in the middle who has little say-so about what he will do today.
The pastor-in-the-middle–let’s say the shepherd of the church running from 150 up to three hundred or so, depending on situations, resources and available helpers–will always have more on his plate than he can get to.
The daunting task of the medium church pastor
This pastor is the church administrator. He is the boss of the employees. He gives direction to everyone who works there. He deals with problems and headaches. He is the counselor for the congregation. He is the hospital visitor and does all the funerals and weddings. He is a member of every committee in the church and, if he doesn’t call the meeting and attend, nothing gets done. He is the go-to person for every question. He dictates all the letters, and may even type them himself. He follows up with the visitors and prospects, phoning or visiting them. Meanwhile, he preaches all the sermons and even teaches some of the Sunday School lessons. Add to this one overwhelming fact…