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WALKING AWAY.... - 1/26/2010 1:05:10 PM
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jgthomas78
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IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS I HAVE SEEN FOUR SEPERATE MINISTERS FROM FOUR DIFFERENT CHURCHES ABANDON THE PULPIT. I'M NOT TALKING ALONG THE LINES OF THEM MEETING WITH THE CHURCH AND SAYING THAT "GOD HAS LAID UPON ME TO GO AND START ANOTHER MINISTRY SOMEWHERE ELSE" OR "I FEEL THAT GOD IS LEADING ME OTHER PLACES AND I WILL STAY UNTIL WE CAN FIND ANOTHER SHEPHERD THAT THE LORD WANTS TO LEAD HERE." I'M TALKING ABOUT WALKING OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF SERVICE SAYING "I QUIT." THESE FOUR LEADERS ARE DIFFERENT AGES, WITH DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE IN THE MINISTRY. OF THESE FOUR I KNOW OF TWO THAT HAVE QUIT MINISTRY ALL TOGETHER. THE CHURCHES WERE BIBLICALLY SOUND AND THERE WAS NOT ANY FUED GOING ON WITHIN THE CHURCH. BOTH THE CHURCHES AND MINISTERS WERE/ARE WELL RESPECTED. MY QUESTION IS.....IS ANYBODY ELSE SEEING THIS DISTURBING PATTERN IN THEIR AREA ALSO? 
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/26/2010 1:21:00 PM
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chrisb743
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Wow.. Thats some crazy stuff.. My best friend is a youth pastor and has been in youth ministry for 15 years now. We were talking the other night and he's so distressed about some things he's thinking of walking away.. Thats the only circumstance I know of myself, but I would guess that it happens often. Why? I really dont have those answers.. I do know that the American church is messed up in a lot of ways in the times we're living.. It seems to have lost " it's first love" so to speak.. I think the church needs to get back to the model of the early church.. In one mind and one accord.. In the spirit.. And let a lot of this other stuff go..
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/26/2010 5:16:57 PM
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CitationSquirrel
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I know from my Dad's personal experience as a preacher and from some preachers that I knew, that about ten year's ago the situation for pastors seemed to be bad. Very good pastors were being forced out of their churches. It was really bad. It wouldn't surprise me if it hasn't gotten any better.
The other day I was at a leadership meeting at our church and our pastor asked us "who in the church do I hear from?" The answer of course is that he hears mainly from those who have a complaint or are angry. Ocassionally, he said that he hears from someone who is happy with what is going on. I made a mental not to send some encouraging emails to my pastor throughout the year.
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"Prying into [the mysteries of election, predestination, and divine sovereignty] may make theologians, but it will never make saints." -- A.W. Tozer
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 4:20:52 AM
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jgthomas78
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THE FOUR..... TWO NON DENOMINATIONAL, ONE METHODIST AND ONE SOUTHERN BAPTIST.
IN NO WAY AM I CRITICIZING THESE PASTORS OR THE CHURCH. I HATE THAT IT HAPPENED. IT'S TERRIBLE THAT IT HAS BECOME COMMON. I THINK THE EARLIER POST RANG TRUE IN ALOT OF WAYS WHEN IT TALKED ABOUT THE PASTOR ONLY HEARING THE BAD AND NEGATIVE FROM THE CONGREGATION. I ALSO THINK THAT WE SOMETIMES TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED AND AS WE PRAY FOR OUR COUNTRY AND THE BODY OF CHRIST WE ESPICIALLY NEED TO LIFT UP OUR PASTORS, YOUTH MINISTERS, ETC. OBVIOUSLY SATAN LOVES TO TEAR DOWN OUR SPIRITIAL LEADERS BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT IT HAS ON ALL OF US.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 8:15:32 AM
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myhusbandswife76
Posts: 411
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First: Welcome to the boards. I'm glad your here.
Second: Just a heads up that all caps is a TOS violation.
Third: How is it that you happened to be in each of these 4 churches at the exact same time these 4 events happened?
Fourth: To answer your question, no I have not seen that in my area.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 9:20:22 AM
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buckifn
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No, I haven't noticed it happening any more than usual...but there are always some pastor's who do indeed need to walk away
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 10:58:33 AM
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Moriarte
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Kat_D
No I have never ever seen this in my area, but I can tell you that if these pastors quit and walked out in the middle of a service, there was definitely something negative going on in their churches. You just weren't privy to it.
I am afraid I would have to concur. Especially since you indicate that it was four different churches, I find it difficult to understand how you could know everything that was going on inside each congregation. I like to think I am pretty in tune with my local congregation and I still find out from time to time about things that went on well outside my radar that my pastor dealt with privily.
-Mori
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 10:58:38 AM
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rcjames
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I have only heard of one incident in my 46+ years of ministry where the Pastor just walked off in the middle of a service.
That was at a Free Will Baptist Church near here, and it was after a long ongoing battle between families in the Church (control issues).
Since that happened, the Church has ran through 4 Pastors in 2 years (So I presume the battle between the families in still going on). Sad, very sad.
Thanks
RC
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 2:32:39 PM
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buckifn
Posts: 1652
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Would snakes being passed around pass for "trouble"???? lol
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 4:52:05 PM
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sharonjef2007
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It is hard to say if there were any underlying issues at a church concerning the pastor unless you are right there in the mix. I have seen one pastor do this. He explained that he did not feel that he was effective in his role in that church because the congregation would not let him lead. And, he was right. He also left the ministry all together and now teaches at a local college.
There was a very sneaky group of people in that church who were determined to make this pastor's life as miserable as possible.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 5:40:52 PM
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Eutychus
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quote:
ORIGINAL: rcjames
I have only heard of one incident in my 46+ years of ministry where the Pastor just walked off in the middle of a service.
That was at a Free Will Baptist Church near here, and it was after a long ongoing battle between families in the Church (control issues).
Since that happened, the Church has ran through 4 Pastors in 2 years (So I presume the battle between the families in still going on). Sad, very sad.
Thanks
RC
Before I left the FWB denomination in 1986, one of their official magazines reported that the average FWB preacher only remained 3 years as pastor in any given church. The average... That was stunning to me. A pastor usually has just learned his congregation and community well enough in 2-3 years to see where he needs to lead them.
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Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." -John 6:29
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 7:03:03 PM
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Kath
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Dear jgthomas78,
Welcome to forums!
Please turn off your caps lock, as posting in all caps is a violation of our Terms of Service 11.
Thank you!
Sincerely
Kath
Volunteer Assistant Administrator
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/27/2010 11:52:52 PM
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Kerrlaw
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If I was in four churches within six months and the four pastors of those churches quit walked out in the middle of a service, I believe that I would take my preaching from television for a while...
...and take a good long look in the mirror.
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That which does not kill us makes us fatter. ~ crankius
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/28/2010 10:19:16 AM
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seagullplayer
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The OP never said he was present when these events took place, only that he knew of them.
I know Church trouble can be hard on a Pastor, and I have known more than one to quite, but sometimes it is the Pastor. Not all that fill a Pulpit today are really called to do it…
A few years ago I was asked to fill in for a Church; they called me on a Friday to ask if I could preach their Home Coming Service that Sunday! Their Pastor was planning to do it himself, but called the board on Thursday to say he was resigning effective immediately he had been at the Church four years.
I know a Pastor that had been at a Church a year, at the end of the year everything had went very well, they had a big dinner to celebrate his first year of service. He asked for a meeting with board after service and told them he would not be back, he went to his car and left. With the congregation in the dinning hall awaiting his arrival!
The man from the first story floated around for awhile he now Pastor's another local Church. I spoke to him a few weeks ago, he is thinking of leaving that Church after less than a year.
The man in the second story has worked in four different Churches in the last two and a half years.
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The world has only one problem, sin.
There is only one solution, Jesus.
Seems a lot of people watch evangelist on TV and call it going to church.
My kids use to play Mario Cart and think they where driving…
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/28/2010 5:14:35 PM
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psalm100
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I would think being a pastor probably isn't easy. You have some members that bicker and argue over petty issues. Maybe these pastors were burnt out. It can happen. That is why I believe every pastor should take a sabbatical to renew themselves and rest.
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John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/28/2010 10:33:52 PM
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buckifn
Posts: 1652
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lol RC stop making me spill my Coke.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/29/2010 8:25:41 AM
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ChristopherJ007
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From: Canada
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quote:
ORIGINAL: psalm100
I would think being a pastor probably isn't easy. You have some members that bicker and argue over petty issues. Maybe these pastors were burnt out. It can happen. That is why I believe every pastor should take a sabbatical to renew themselves and rest.
You're absolutely right, Psalm100. Although a pastor is no more spiritual or important than anyone else in the church - we are all equally loved by God, and called to serve Him in various vocations and callings - he is definite subject to greater spiritual attacks from the enemy. If you think about it, if the devil can take out a pastor of a church, either through getting him discouraged and causing him to quit, or pressuring him and tempting him to sin so that he is disqualified from serving, look at how that can potentially devastate that church family! So, let these stories encourage all of you to pray regularly and faithfully for your pastor.
Psalm100 - my wife and I serve the Lord in pastoral ministry, and this past November went on our first week-long sabbatical retreat, it was very timely and refreshing for us! I had been serving the Lord in full time ministry for seventeen years (14 as a youth pastor, 3 as a lead pastor), and had never done anything like this. I encourage all of those in full time ministry to take a sabbatical and be refreshed and recharged to continue doing the work of the ministry!
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www.chrisjordanpublications.ca (new)
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/29/2010 1:08:52 PM
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Consecrated2God
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My husband resigned a church last year, and although we did not quit the ministry we sat out for a few months to heal. I know that to some of the people in our congregation, it was very sudden and they were taken completely by surprise. They didn't know what was going on or why we left, and we didn't tell them. To have done that would have caused very hard feelings. We didn't want to leave in an ugly manner and get defensive and accusatory. Better to just say that we felt the church was headed in a different direction than we were and to leave. My husband was the fourth pastor in a row to resign from that church in a fairly short amount of time.
So yeah, just because you didn't know there wasn't any trouble doesn't mean there wasn't any.
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Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 1/31/2010 10:40:58 PM
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sledmt
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Personally, I believe that some of the reason for pastors leaving churches are that what was started out in the Spirit lead to them doing the work from their flesh...
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 2/3/2010 10:04:58 PM
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writerchick
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Sometimes, it is better to just walk away.
In 2004, my dad retired from the church he'd pastored for the previous 24 years. To this day, I don't know all the details, but I know there were issues going on that led to his decision.
There was another church nearby that had lost its building. Dad had come to an agreement with their pastor that they should combine the congregations since both were fairly small. Simple, huh? Not so much. Turns out our members didn't want to combine with them because they were afraid they mess up our building, too. That made no sense because the building had been over a hundred years old and just kinda fell in from what I understand. They didn't have the money to fix it.
Dad worked and worked to make the merger happen, but the members blocked him at every turn. Then on top of everything, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. That's when he decided to retire.
To this day, I still don't know who was responsible for the mess because Dad was very good at keeping confidences and I was already living in Los Angeles. I have to admit, though. The speech I had to give at his "retirement" service was the hardest I've ever had to give in my life. Not that I give many speeches...
I knew he was being forced out and as some of you may have noticed, I pretty much call a spade a spade. Combine that with me being the biggest "Daddy's Girl" you'd ever want to meet and oh boy were those folks in for a surprise!
I really had to pray over that speech. For weeks, the entirety of it was "Y'all go to h***." I'm fairly sure that wouldn't have gone over too well. But I meant every word.
Anyway, God gave me a speech that focused completely on what my parents meant to me and Dad was in tears by the time I was finished. That was so much better than the reaction I would've gotten from the original.
So like other folks have pointed out, you never know what's going on behind the scenes that could cause a minister to leave.
I know Dad often wondered if he made the right decision, but I know he did. Just knowing how many good times he and Mom had together the last few years of her life tells me that. He didn't leave the ministry completely. He wasn't even retired for 6 months before he ended up as interim pastor for another church. They tried to keep him, but he made sure they found a new full time pastor.
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RE: WALKING AWAY.... - 2/15/2010 3:53:00 PM
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rxw
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I was wondering if there is any biblical reference for a pastor leaving a congregation. I always thought that you should not take on a leadership role like this unless you got the approval of God to do so.
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