#40 - In which I reflect as a person of faith

As established in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 6, Pastoral ministry—(1) prayer and (2) ministry of the word—is an honorable and caring profession. Whether rabbi, imam, or (place your label for clergy here), the job description is not much different. Yes, some have not lived honorably in this calling while many have.

Clergy careers are on the endangered species list.

The role has declined and reached a tipping point last year. Our efforts so far are little more than the use of thimbles to bail out a sinking boat.

Going deeper: The Catholic version of this crisis

The contributing factors?

• COVID burnout led to many resignations and clergy exiting their careers.
• An abundance of societal divisive, either-or demands shrouded in conspiracy theory (insert any issue of your choosing). They touch everything: sexuality, gender, which side of a war is genocidal, the US presidential election dramas, and even this past week, how a person sees the decadent tableaux that opened the Olympics.?Anyone leading a community finds that they cannot hold that community together and often becomes the community's scapegoat. Why stay and endure that? Why put your family through unnecessary suffering?
• Congregations and the households that constitute them are not calling or supporting people preparing to be clergy. Essentially, we have a three-fold problem: families discourage their children from considering ministry, seminaries do not provide a replacement rate for new pastors, and the number of empty pulpits is increasing exponentially.
• The clergy we do have are aging out.
• Talented and qualified pastors found engaging and meaningful work elsewhere, and they aren't coming back. Lay leaders at the congregational level and denominational officials lack the imagination to pursue them.

Rather than prayer and ministry of the word, this inhabiting space and breath with people as they grow in and live out their faith, we have the CEO pastor who plays to the camera and streams to an audience. All other forms are in decline.

"Not in our case!" you say. "We have an exemplary saint, a deeply respected pastor who teaches us, equips us, and prays beautifully!"

Let's assume this means your clergy uses scriptural reflection as a guide for living and that they practice an awareness of the presence of God because prayerfulness has grown in them. Let's assume that it is out of this rich spiritual life that the people of your congregation are well-equipped to live by faith (which means growing a peaceful and non-anxious spirit that loves neighbor, stranger, orphan, and widow as self as opposed to beset by anger and fear). The question is this:

Who will replace such a pastor when the time comes? Where and how are they being shaped and readied?

Pastors like these are becoming relics, and we aren't making enough new ones. ???

In my backpack: The Times

I currently reside in a place where I walk to a corner newsstand, purchase a proper newspaper, chat up the proprietor whom I see every day, and sip coffee or tea while reading on a bench in the village green.?

It's the little luxuries. ??

Executive Thinking is a?source for being and thinking as an executive who links the world's future to their enterprise mission and its profitable operations. Here, you will find some of the soul-searching, middle-of-the-night, honest reflections at the core of who we are becoming as leaders.

A Systems Convener and Executive Advisor walking alongside accomplished executives in the third turn of their careers, Mark L. Vincent, Ph.D., EPC, loves leaders who love leaders.

In his own third turn, Mark continues to grow his capacity for wise advising, artful facilitation, and public presentation.

Mark has founded?Maestro-level leaders,?Design Group International,?and the?Society for Process Consulting and authored a number of books, including Listening Helping Learning. He now partners with Mygrow to build an emotionally intelligent world.

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