Diary of a Young Pastor

Every year, pastors in the Wesleyan church are asked to fill out a minister’s report.  One question that always gets me is, “How do you rate your loyalty to your district?”  Many of you already know, I’m a pastor in the NC West District, and for the past 3-6 years, I have not felt very loyal to my district.  I addressed this with the following remarks.  For some of you, this may not be very interesting, but I want to post it anyways.

Last year (2006-07 district year) I stated in my Minister’s Report that it was frightening to be a pastor in this district because this district is quite unsupportive to its pastors.  I was somewhat encouraged last year when I received a call from the District Superintendent who, during the phone conversation, addressed this remark.  He reassured me that, indeed, the district was supportive of its pastors, but as the 2007-2008 church year has come and gone, I have continued to see my fellow pastors treated wrongly by this district and its leadership.

I’ve seen the people of some congregations become hostile towards their pastor and force him out the doors with many months of the church year left.  In doing so, this church (and it isn’t limited to one) has left not just the pastor, but the pastor’s spouse and even his children without a place to go, a place to live, or any means of support.  And meanwhile, our leadership seems to throw up their clean hands - much like Pontius Pilate - unwilling to step in and defend their pastors because of the risk of becoming unpopular among the people.

This criticism may sound harsh - and, I do realize that I don’t know every intricate detail of every situation in the district - but when my criticisms are confirmed year after year, I feel I have the responsibility to answer the question of district loyalty as honestly as possible.  And, honestly, I am not comfortable being a married pastor in a district were I risk my (and my family’s) safety and livelihood at the drop of my congregation’s proverbial “hat”.

I think that this could, one day, be a great district in which to be a pastor, but until there is leadership that refuses to sit at the sidelines while its pastors are fighting a battle - it is a frightening place for me to be.