Length of Tenure

(The following is not meant to be a detailed defense of the issue at hand but is offered as a push to more conversation in an area that has been largely neglected among pastors)

How long should a pastor stay at his ministry assignment? This is a question that I have spent a good amount of time thinking about. The reason is not that I’m considering a move (far from it) but that I am constantly asked by fellow pastors how long they should “hang-on” at their respective churches. Many brothers in ministry have cried on my shoulder because of weariness, burnout, and factional difficulties all of which have raised the potential for ending their tenures. I was reminded of this when I read the news report of a well-known pastor leaving his mega congregation for another very large congregation out of state. Throughout the press release this pastor never gave a concrete answer for this massive change. He talked about seeking signs from the Lord and the emotional turmoil that such a decision had caused him but he never once spoke of his decision making process in biblical or pastoral terms. So when should a pastor leave? Just how much abuse should a pastor “put-up” with before he decides to move? What if his congregation leaves him financially strung while another congregation offers a significant salary increase? What are congregational “deal-breakers” that make it impossible for his continuance? Are there legitimate reasons to leave one congregation for another when they are essentially equal in size, influence, and ministry opportunity? The questions abound and never cease multiplying.

First I should say that there is no cookie-cutter approach to answering these sorts of questions. I realize that there are significant challenges that many pastors face which makes objectivity in this area hard to discern. I do not portend to have all the answers to such specific questions. However, I want to put forward the general thesis that pastors who preach should aim for lengthy tenures in one local church. Many reasons could be offered from the pragmatic to the more doctrinal. However, I think that in order to be most effective, a preaching ministry will require elongated tenure so as to prove the nature of the call itself and to provide consistent ministry.

As to the nature of the call, there is an implicit demand on the time of the elder which necessitates a lengthy stay. I can’t help but see this in pastoral charges like those in 1 Peter 5 and 2 Timothy 4:1-2. The things that the pastor is called to be and do take time…lots of time! The common joke is that, “pastors work one hour a week.” While this is no doubt true for many hirelings throughout the land, not so with the man who has been called by God and gives himself to the ministry with complete integrity. The average tenure of a pastor in the US is three years. That’s despicable and horrific when we consider what it takes to effectively minister to God’s flock in the way that He has prescribed. I’m not suggesting that a pastor fill his schedule with programs from the denomination office or with the latest fad from the “experts”. To the contrary, I’m suggesting he immerse himself with the specifics that God has called him to in Scripture (e.g., study, preach/teach, counsel, lead/administrate, visit, pray, practice, etc.). It takes time to do these things and it takes even more time to do them with excellence. This means that every week will be full and when he enters his third year of ministry he’s not looking for an escape but he’s just getting started. We see leaders with this basic commitment as far back as Ezra who “set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). No doubt this was a great demand on Ezra’s time and it required sustained influence in and among Israel.

My thinking was challenged again on this issue from an unlikely source, the book of Hosea. In preparation for preaching through the book I was struck with the nature of Hosea’s call to ministry (Hos. 1:2) and how long it lasted (Hos.1:1). The best guesses tell us that Hosea’s ministry lasted around forty years. We could think of others like Jeremiah and Isaiah who also persevered through difficult ministries. I was struck by a comment on Hosea from the insightful pen of John Calvin. Here’s what he had to say on the length of Hosea’s ministry and it’s implications for pastoral practice:

“But when God employs our service for twenty or thirty years, we think it wearisome, especially when we have to contend with wicked men, and those who do not willingly undertake the yoke, but pertinaciously resist us; we then instantly desire to be set free, and wish to become like soldiers who have completed their time. When, therefore, we see that this Prophet persevered for so long a time, let him be to us an example of patience, so that we may not despond, though the Lord may not immediately free us from our burden” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. 13, “Hosea” pg.38).

Calvin is essentially saying that when we enter our 20th or even 30th year we are just getting started!!! This is alarming when we consider again that the average stay is three years. Brothers, there is no “thou shall” or “shall not” when it comes to length of tenure in ministry. However, we are called to “take heed to the ministry” we have received so “that we may fulfill it” (cf. Col. 4:17; 2 Tim. 4:5) and to reciprocate that ministry to others called to the same task (2 Tim. 2:2). This will, in most cases, take a lot more than three years…it will take a lifetime. When we come to the end of our ministries, I pray we can join with the Apostle in like manner and say to our congregations, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable…I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:20, 24). The challenges are great but the Lord who called you is greater. The same Lord who called you to your ministry will strengthen you to weather the storms of that ministry. I close with a bit of wisdom from a seasoned pastor:

“Sometimes a pastor’s ministry to a particular church does come to an end and change is better for both, but the decision should be a joint one. The entire church leadership should be involved, and if that occurs, there should be no acrimony. It should be prayed over at length, explored in every detail, and handled in an open and aboveboard manner. Both parties should genuinely agree that this is the best plan for God’s Kingdom. When that is done, I believe we can expect God to bless those changes. But to continually hire and fire pastors, and for pastors to church-hop must be displeasing to the Lord and is very disruptive to the congregations” (Curtis Thomas, Practical Wisdom for Pastors, 144).