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.” Let us, then, follow the diverse example of the early Church and celebrate our gifts regardless of whether or not we have a ring on our finger and children in our home, setting an example for our congregants and the world around us that our lives find meaning and purpose not in our lifestyles, but in the salvation and redemption we find at the Cross! But the times, they are a-changin’. The snapshot of Canada’s population captured by the 2016 census reveals that “for the first time in the country’s history, the number of one-person households has surpassed all other types of living situations. They accounted for 28.2 per cent of all households last year, more than the percentage of couples with children, couples without children, single-parent families, multiple family households and all other combinations of people living together.” And among those one-person households are clergy. Learn what it means to be a “differentiated” or “self-differentiated” individual and become one. This is a psychological concept that is worth studying. It’s today’s way of singing, “Dare to be a Daniel; dare to stand alone; dare to have a purpose firm and dare to make it known.”

Influence Magazine | How to Lead a Church Alone

Because relationships are so important in solo-pastor churches, this observation by McIntosh is worth highlighting: “Solo pastors must move away from thinking they have to make all the decisions and create a collective alliance with board members. Purposeful relationships truly signal leadership maturity in the solo pastor.” 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 Pressures 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." 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. Keep in mind, I don’t mean, “How do we build a meaningful ministry to singles?” Nope – completely different topic! That’s an issue for other blogs and books dedicated to programming, evangelism and “the emerging relevant church.” I’m talking about ministry-when-the-servant-is-single.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. This is a sad scenario that I’ve seen more than a few times. You stay in by lowering your expectations to the level of “nothing’s happening here, but nothing’s happening anywhere else either.” You lose faith but “keep on keeping on” because you heard this phrase in seminary.

Lincoln City Church

Sprinters go all out, exhausting themselves in a short race to win. Contrary to sprinters, long-distance runners pace themselves to finish a longer distance. Doing too much too fast in a solo-pastor church brings overextension, disillusionment, and collapse. Don't give up on the larger, comprehensive vision, but invest your energy in meeting needs that match your present resources.

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).

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

Exhaustion will likely result in a ministry project with insufficient strength to survive. Pace the church's ministries so your people don't burn out. Our church is extremely grateful for the insight, adaptability and wisdom Brian so graciously contributed to our needs as we transitioned. Our pastor transition was from Father to Son, which is by definition, difficult. Yet Brian was able to foresee issues, feelings and responses with high accuracy. Brian is personable, yet can direct when he needs to help us be reasonable and vision-oriented." Use 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? I wasn’t trying to be sensational last week when I wrote about how churches with solo pastors often “kill” their pastors, in the sense of rendering them unable to continue effectively in local church ministry.God's Word suggests that faith is best balanced with facts. Proverbs 18:13 is emphatic in this case: "He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him." A paraphrase is more explicit: "What a shame—yes, how stupid!—to decide before knowing the facts!" (TLB). How can a church balance faith and practice? This is one common problem in solo-pastor churches. Churches thrive on big vision (faith) but face the reality of limited resources (practice). Here are some insights and tips to consider. Investing in your own health will reduce loneliness and stress while creating the opportunity to lead a healthier church,” McIntosh writes. Paul could just as easily have included “single or married” in this list of status markers that have been swept away by the new, complete and eternal identity found in Christ. Married, single, Scythian or otherwise, our Christian distinctiveness rests completely in the character and work of Jesus.

The Solo Pastor: Understanding and Overcoming the Challenges

Be enough of a mystic to obtain great joy and peace and satisfaction from God’s presence. Stay in the Word of God long enough to get your “blesser” blessed. Since that is true, it follows that being called and equipped to ministry does not hinge on marital status. In His fully human incarnation, Jesus submitted His divine self to be a servant (Philippians 2.6), and lived out that ministry as a single man with rich relationships. Peter was married. Paul was single. Priscilla and Aquila were marriage and ministry partners together. Whether single or married, each of these giants of the early Church chose to follow Jesus, and were used powerfully by God for the spreading of the Gospel. Single pastors and married ministers alike need to explore their fitness for ministry based on Scriptural principles, not lifestyle stages. Wait patiently for other dreams to materialize as the resources to run and maintain them are brought forth. "We had a lot of school teachers in our church," remembers one solo pastor. "They were always pushing us to start a Christian elementary school. After giving it consideration, the elders determined the resources weren't there for a full-blown elementary school but that we could manage to begin a preschool. We walked through that open door, and five years later the preschool was so successful that we were able to start building an entire elementary school."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.” Solo pastors, whether full- or part-time, lead 56% of American churches, according to the 2015 National Congregations Study by Duke University researchers. Karl Vaters became frustrated looking for help as a small church pastor. Everything was written from the perspective of a large church, and most of that didn’t apply to a smaller congregation. He says it’s hard to find help when pastoring a smaller church: If the vision is too broad, it'll be like placing multiple ladders against numerous buildings. Which one do you climb first? Which is the most important? Which deserves the investment of time, personnel, and energy? With too many ladders to climb, you'll end up frustrated, with a sense of failure. You could do many good things this year, but you are not likely to do them all. Leading a church alone presents obvious challenges, as well as unexpected opportunities. Gary L. McIntosh examines both in his new book, The Solo Pastor. He presents his material in four parts.