Solo Pastor: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges of Leading a Church Alone

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In most churches no one will protect you from being destroyed by your ministry. A few rare congregations have pastoral support committees, or something similar. Generally speaking, these groups only exist on paper because most lay persons simply don’t understand what it’s like to be a pastor. This is not anyone’s fault; it’s just one of those professions that you have to experience to understand.

Lincoln City Church

Pastor Dan Norman "This course showed me that I, as a solo pastor, have to do things that don’t come naturally to me and has given me some tools to do the hard things.” A solo-pastor church can adequately add only one new ministry a year, and perhaps retool two other ministries. Hence, it's wise to consider if there are enough resources to complete any plan. No pastor sets out to do this, but it happens, over time, to too many of us. I’m talking about getting tough, hard, contemptuous, sarcastic, and cynical. I’m talking about emotionally, and sometimes physically, isolating yourself from all except a few individuals.In addition to the extreme pressure pastors put on themselves, churches often have overwhelming expectations of their pastor. Thom Rainer writes, “Clearly a pastor will sense the tension of so many factors competing for the limited hours in a week. And clearly no one can ever humanly meet all those expectations.” A pastor often feels pressured to be a preacher, a teacher, a counselor, a shepherd, an evangelist, a leader, an administrator, a CEO, a financial expert, a janitor, a holy person, and a human being. A large church can staff for some of these roles. In a small church, the pastor has fewer people to delegate to, so people expect him to do it all alone (not to mention the unseen things that many pastors do). I’m speaking directly to solo pastors today because, for the most part, pastors must do this themselves. You get good at going through the motions. You settle for survival. You’re not fruitful but at least you’re “faithful.” You don’t expect people to be excited about the gospel and they aren’t. You don’t expect lost people to be converted and they’re not. You “hang on for retirement.” Unless the vision is defined so people can see not only where to go but also how to get there, they'll be running wild. A healthy church knows in which direction it's heading. This requires that (1) people know, understand, and believe in the church's overall vision; (2) each person understands their place in fulfilling the vision; (3) people hear about the needs of the congregation and want to help; (4) victories and successes regarding the vision are shared with the congregation; (5) people hear about how the vision has changed lives; (6) communication channels are kept open and active; and (7) church leaders take responsibility to make certain the first six are done. So without scolding pastors or churches for the current reality, let’s get down to those seven ways – some of which are much better than others – to keep your church from killing you.

Solo Pastors: Here Are 7 Ways To Keep Your Church From

Just look at the term “solo pastor” – doesn’t it sound lonely? Loneliness and isolation are two of the most common problems among pastors. It’s Hard to Find Practical Help God is oh-so-gracious the way He does this for many, many pastors. Please don’t let anyone bully you into thinking you’re doing something wrong if you’re recovering your strength in some other type of work for a while. I’m fine with seeing pastors “leave the ministry” if they weren’t the right men to be serving in this way in the first place. But if leading a church is what God made you to do, I don’t want to see anything keep you from doing it. Pastor Brian Schley "It was a privilege to have been a part of a pastors group led by Brian Thorstad. It's always great to learn from other pastors, and someone needs to provide leadership to make that happen. I'm thankful that Brian was willing to do that, and to share from both his successes and failures in ministry. He's honest, humble, and cares about people."It seems that pastors make lousy groups for insurance companies. This might seem counter-intuitive: pastors ought to be the happiest, calmest, most stress-free persons on earth. On the contrary, the “job” – especially the job of the small church’s sole or solo leader – is regarded by many as one of the most stressful on earth. These practical realities come to the fore in McIntosh’s book. He begins each chapter with a conversation between a new solo pastor and a mature one about problems solo pastors face. (The characters are fictional, but the problems are real.) Each chapter ends with three questions and two ideas. Readers who journal their way through these sections will develop a better sense of what they need to do to pastor their congregations more effectively. When talking about discipleship, Jesus advised his followers to count the cost. "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? . . . Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?" (Luke 14:28, 31). So last week I wrote about three ways to keep your church from driving you off to Loew’s or McDonald’s or Walmart. Two of them were poor choices; one was a good choice:

Influence Magazine | How to Lead a Church Alone

When a small church tries to have a big ministry, everyone suffers. Most small churches don’t have enough people to effectively run nursery, children’s ministry, youth ministry, small groups, adult studies, men’s groups, women’s groups, and a dynamic worship service. So all these ministries end up being mediocre at best. Running a mediocre ministry is draining to leaders. They are continually frustrated and never have enough (money, resources, space, people, etc.). A healthy, simple church would ask volunteers to maximize their gifts and say no to the other things. Small churches usually don’t realize that they are hurting themselves by trying to do everything. In most small churches volunteers end up doing several roles. Overworked volunteers usually become burned out, depressed, cranky, or leave the church altogether. Many times the pastor is the one who is the object of their frustration. It is important to realize that “single” is not the same as “solitary.” Single people serving the Gospel enjoy a variety of meaningful relationships with people, including other singles, married persons, couples and whole families. Real ministry happens within the context of relationships, and single pastors are as capable of experiencing and contributing to relationships as any married clergy might. Then I got mad. After one particular “aha” discovery, I found myself yelling at an empty room, “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?!” Family PressuresUse two criteria to determine when to say yes and when to say no to new opportunities. (1) Do your people "own" the vision? If it originated with one or a few, do others see it as a priority? It's best to delay starting a new ministry unless you have a minimum of five people committed to getting it started and keeping it running. (2) Do you have the emotional and spiritual resources, personnel, money, and facilities?