200churches

  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Partners
  • Podcast Series
  • Collaborate
  • New Page
  • Home
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Partners
  • Podcast Series
  • Collaborate
  • New Page

5 Ways To Tell If You’re An Isolated Pastor

7/29/2013

0 Comments

 
It’s amazing that in our connected culture, it might be easier than ever to be isolated as a pastor. I knew a pastor who felt that all his ministry time could be spent in his office. He rarely ventured out of the church facility to visit with church members, let alone community people. His vision dried up. He began spending more time in planning, preparation, study, administrative tasks, and ministry stuff, not realizing that the central focus of true ministry is people. And people necessitate relationships.
Picture
In this week’s podcast we talk about what drives us to do what we do with 200churches, the podcast and the blog site. We talk about the nitty gritty of ministry, and in the conversation, we touch on isolation in ministry. I wonder if you are reading this, and realizing that you have become somewhat isolated as a pastor.

Here are five ways to tell if you are isolated in ministry.
  1. You spend most of your ministry time in your office. Unless you are in an administrative role, you should not spend more than half your weekly work hours in your office. There are always exceptions. You might counsel a lot of people, or hold many planning meetings with others, but as a rule, the more time you spend with real, live people – the better. Get out of your office and into the community!
  2. You are communicating and collaborating less and less. If you are making plans on your own, not conferring with others, avoiding phone calls and email – you might be isolated. Ministry involves a huge amount of communication. You should come home at night and not want to answer the phone, because you have ministered to people all day. We do need time to pray and study, of course, but communication is a must – the more the better.
  3. You are keeping secrets. Phone calls you make, stuff you order online, websites you visit, places you go, the shortcuts you take when you study and prepare messages, Facebook interactions, fears, insecurities, financial transactions, emails, and even your eating or drinking habits are things you keep secrets about. No one knows everything about you, not even your husband or wife. Secrets are becoming more routine and normal in your life.
  4. You have no interactions with other ministries or ministry leaders. You don’t know what’s going on in other churches… anywhere! You’ve stopped keeping in touch with friends in ministry. You avoid going to ministerial association meetings or pastor’s fellowships. You don’t want to hear about the success of other ministries. You don’t want to talk with other pastors for fear they might ask about your “tiny” ministry. You are not spending time with ministry friends, even avoiding some within your own church. 
  5. You get zero input or feedback on your messages. You don’t confer with other people on what you should preach, or what directions you might take for message series. You write the message yourself, and then immediately forget it when it’s done, quickly moving on to next week’s prep. You don’t listen to other messages. You don’t listen to anything that might better your preaching. You are insecure about the quality of your messages.

If at least three of the above five situations apply to you – YOU are becoming isolated. That’s a bad place to be. You need to talk with someone this week about it. Find someone you trust, someone you can confide in. If you have no one, contact me or Jonny – me, if you’re an older pastor, or Jonny if you’re hip and “with it”! Our email addresses are on the contact page of 200churches.com.

We’ll touch on this in the podcast on Wednesday, then on Friday, we’ll share some ideas to climb out of that isolation. God wants us to connect with the body of Christ, and with the world he so loves. He wants us to do ministry in community. He wants you to get your life back too!


What are some other clues that a pastor might be isolated in ministry?
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Welcome to the 200churches blog! We have hundreds of posts covering every issue imaginable. So pull up a chair, pour a cup of coffee, and stay awhile.
    Picture

    Subscribe today and get Our 7 Favorite Ministry Resources FREE!

    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by 200churches

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

200churches.com | all rights reserved

contact  |  podcast  |  about 

Photos used under Creative Commons from Just a Prairie Boy, aaron_anderer, Robbie Grubbs, Rubbermaid Products, Carolyn Coles, Russ Neumeier, iz4aks, marfis75, laura271GSD1, The Car Spy, Rob Ellis', TheJRB, Andrew_D_Hurley, jseliger2, Renaud Camus, Ken Wilcox., tiarescott, www.audio-luci-store.it, StockMonkeys.com, DuReMi, woodleywonderworks, NiePhotography, LiamDC, Zemlinki!, sidewalk flying, steve p2008, stevendepolo, c&rdunn, Rosaura Ochoa, bradleypjohnson, Phil Roeder, Carlos Graterol, photokok, Mark Spearman, Lisa L Wiedmeier, USACE Europe District, JefferyTurner, mlcastle, allyrose18, wallygrom, Jan Tik, woodleywonderworks, acme, nickirp, Cast a Line, Biggunben, striatic, aussiegall, whatleydude, BromfordGroup, Phillie Casablanca, francescopozzi, jai Mansson's photography.