RE: LEADERSHIP IN CRISIS If one looks at the general trend in pastoral leadership in the church, the picture is not generally a positive one. Dedication to serving in and through the local church is declining in many quadrants of the larger Christian community. Here are some important leadership statistics on pastors in the US distilled from a Barna Group study and Fuller Theological Seminary: -1500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or leadership conflict in their churches; -50% of pastors marriages will end in divorce; -80% of pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastor; -50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but believe they have no other way of making a living; -80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years; -70% of pastors constantly fight depression; -40% polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry; -70% said the only time they spend studying the scriptures is when preparing their sermons; -60% to 80% of those who enter the ministry will not be in it 10 years later (only a fraction will stay in it as a lifetime career). So what about Roman Catholic leadership? Are things any healthier? Here are some statistic released from the Vatican: -There are 50,000 nuns in the USA (down from 125,000 in the 1960s); -The average age of a nun is mid to late 70s; -The number of priests has declined in the US from 58,534 in 1981 to 38,275 in 2014- a 33 percent loss between 1981 and 2014 -The ratio of parishioners to priest in 1981 was 1,429:1; this ration is even greater today and many the number of priests who oversee multiple parishes has grown steadily. If your church is stable and its pastoral leadership is dynamic, growing, and positive about both their work and calling, you are in the minority (and, truly blessed!) Be sure to pray for your pastoral leaders. We all need prayer. We also need your love, encouragement and kindness. Heres some good news: your pastoral staff at Oakbrook works very closely together as a team. Each pastoral leader appreciates all the others- deferring to one anothers strengths. Each feels free to speak into the lives of the others- and we welcome you to do the same. Each is accountable to address conflict in healthy ways and walking in a gracious manner. No single leader is an autocrat or free from accountability to all the others- and this includes our relational lives, moral lives, and personal habits. We expect one another to read, study, pray, confess, and serve lovingly. We expect one another to read, study, pray, confess, and serve lovingly. We are not perfect, but we do push one another to grow in life, character, and love. We really Jesus, you, and our work. Thanks for your love and support.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 19:59:40 +0000
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