I closed my blog that dealt with SBC issues some time ago. Not wanting to lose all the posts, I’m re-publishing some of them here with the date they were originally posted.
Summer is traditionally a slow time in the counseling/therapy biz. At least, for my practice it is. I see fewer kids and teens because they are not in trouble at school (a phone call from the assistant principle is often the first hint parents have that something is wrong). And I see fewer adults; I think it’s because they manage to convince themselves a vacation will fix all their problems. Then, when summer is over, the vacation has been taken, and the problems still remain, they come in for counseling.
Summer is for working on various projects. This year, the project of choice is updating my database of pastors and church staff.
Keeping track of which pastors are at which church is a never ending process. I’m convinced the only people who move around more often than ministers are high school football coaches. Keeping track of youth ministers is nearly impossible. Rolling stones and youth ministers gather no moss.
I can probably count on both hands, if not one hand, the number of ministers who are at the same church in the same role today as they were 10 years ago when I started my private practice.
Surely this cannot be good for churches.
How many pastors have heard it said, if not implied, “I was here before you came and I’ll be here after you leave”? It seems to me that if we want to strengthen the church in America, we not only have to make membership meaningful (as I’ve written about earlier in this blog) but we have to figure out how to increase the staying power of ministers.
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