Now, preachers and ministers come in all stripes and varieties, I understand that.<\/p>\n
In the denomination I serve, there are some who are called \u201cjack-leg preachers,\u201d and it is not a compliment.\u00a0\u00a0No dictionary\u00a0defines that term, but mostly it\u00a0means they are self-taught, self-designated, and probably self-called.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not talking about these.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m referring to solid God-called well-established servants of the Lord who have been cut off from the church they were serving for one reason or the other and now find themselves unemployable.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m referring to faithful preachers of the Word who should be out there leading a congregation, but have not been able to find one willing to give them a try.<\/p>\n
Most pastor search committees are deathly afraid of unemployed preachers.\u00a0 They ask\u2013and with good reason, by the way\u2013if you\u2019re so good, why aren\u2019t you in the pulpit now?\u00a0 If you\u2019re so faithful, how could any church have cut you loose?\u00a0 If you\u2019re such a good prospect, how come no other church has snapped you up?<\/p>\n
The short answer to these questions is simply that churches tend to be afraid to risk calling a preacher who was \u201clet go\u201d by his former church.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So much for living by faith.<\/p>\n
Now, before someone says it, let me say that, yes, I know some preachers have been failures morally, ethically, or even legally.\u00a0 Some preachers were cut loose from their last church because they should have been.<\/p>\n
So, a pastor search committee should do its homework and check into the situation in his last church and the churches before that.\u00a0 If they spot a trend of unfaithfulness or sloppiness or laziness, then they will rightfully decide to move on to other candidates.<\/p>\n
But often the pastor was released from his church–call it being fired, receiving a leave of absence, being given a paid sabbatical with no plans to return, or a number of other synonyms–for no fault of his own.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard churches excuse their actions in terminating their pastor with expressions such as: we weren\u2019t growing, there was a malaise in the church, he wasn\u2019t dynamic enough, or we felt it was time for a new direction.<\/p>\n
My own feeling is that these churches and their leadership will someday answer to God for their mistreatment of the servants whom He has sent to be their shepherds.<\/p>\n
But the question before us (when I finally got to it!) is\u00a0What can we do for the unemployed, but faithful, servant of the Lord?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Here are some suggestions.\u00a0 You will think of others.<\/p>\n \u2013Pray for them by name.<\/p>\n \u2013Encourage that minister to seek the resources of his denomination in counseling, career counseling, job placement, etc.<\/p>\n \u2013In most cases, he will be needing secular employment until a church calls him.\u00a0 Be aware of any opportunities that may come up.<\/p>\n \u2013If you know of a church needing a pastor\u2013or just someone to fill the pulpit a time or two\u2013tell that church\u2019s leaders how to contact him.\u00a0 (Note: As always, I write of pastors as male, but I\u2019m well aware some are female.\u00a0 Please make the adjustments to gender-reference as fits your denominational situation.)<\/em><\/p>\n \u2013If you are well-acquainted with that pastor, enough to serve as a reference, prayerfully pass his resume\u2019 along to churches\u00a0in need of\u00a0a pastor.\u00a0 Include a letter covering two things: Why you believe in him and What happened in the last church to result in their releasing him.\u00a0 (Not necessary to go into detail.\u00a0 A paragraph will suffice.)<\/p>\n \u2013If you are not a minister, encourage your pastors to befriend and encourage him.<\/p>\n \u2013If the Lord leads you to do this and if you are able, consider some financial gift to the unemployed minister.\u00a0 If you would prefer to do so anonymously, a gift of cash or a gift card to a grocery store would be welcome.<\/p>\n Recently, when I found out that an unemployed preacher friend had relocated to another state and then had a major health crisis after arriving there, I wrote a check and sent to him.\u00a0 With the permission of his adult daughter, I put a note on Facebook to solicit prayers and financial gifts to this wonderful family. Several people responded.<\/p>\n Then, another time, I wanted to do something for another preacher friend.\u00a0 More than a year earlier his church had released him, and he and his wife had used up their savings and were in trouble.\u00a0 I heard he was battling discouragement, as you might expect.\u00a0 I wrote him a letter enclosing a check and, without asking permission, published his address on Facebook asking for prayers and notes of encouragement.\u00a0 I said, \u201cIf the Lord impresses you to include a couple of bucks, he would not be offended.\u201d<\/p>\n I have been on the receiving end of the lovingkindness of God\u2019s people.\u00a0 When I was a young teenager, our house burned to the ground.\u00a0 My dad, a coal miner, had been unemployed for over a year.\u00a0 There were six of us children, with the oldest being a senior in high school.\u00a0 It felt like a death in the family.\u00a0 However…<\/p>\n That very night, God\u2019s people swarmed around us with gifts of money and clothing and furniture.\u00a0 We had never felt so loved in all our lives.\u00a0 Within days, Dad had enough money given to him to make a down payment on the hundred-plus acres we had been renting.\u00a0 He and my brothers began cutting timber and trading for dry lumber with which they (and friends) built the farmhouse that has been our family\u2019s dwelling place ever since.<\/p>\n No one ever enjoys being at the bottom when you have nowhere else to go but up.\u00a0 But many of us have looked back down the years and decided that that time of unemployment or other kind of need was the best thing that ever happened to us.<\/p>\n May it be thus with our preacher friends who find themselves between churches today.\u00a0 God richly bless you.\u00a0 May you find His presence wonderful and His promises sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now, preachers and ministers come in all stripes and varieties, I understand that. In the denomination I serve, there are some who are called \u201cjack-leg preachers,\u201d and it is not a compliment.\u00a0\u00a0No dictionary\u00a0defines that term, but mostly it\u00a0means they are … Continue reading