I was in conversation with a mate this morning who asked me about trends in the church in WA, his old stomping ground. He used to be a pastor, but found the demands overwhelming mentally and emotionally.

I observe two trends (admittedly from my fairly sideline position these days) so this will be a two post reflection.

My first observation is the absence of younger pastors coming through who are excited and enthused to either lead or plant churches. Maybe it’s just my tribe – the conservative evangelicals – who are waning, but I genuinely lament the lack of up and coming men and women who are going to lead the church into the future. When I say younger I mean under 35 – people who have not yet ‘peaked’ and who are bristling with the optimism of youth.

Unfortunately – that optimism inevitably gets pulled down a peg or two once they encounter the realities of ministry. And yes – sure – there is also a naivety that accompanies young pastors and church planters – a belief that they have the answers and will ‘sort things out’. But that’s ok – really it is. Those of us who are older can roll with that and help channel that energy into good things. As someone once said ‘you can’t teach passion’, but you can channel it. And while a healthy dose of reality is always valuable, too many younger leaders are observing the toll ministry takes on pastors as well as the demands of compliance and administration and they are baulking – questioning whether that is a path they would ever want to walk down. It’s a lot of weight to carry for at best around $100K…( Hey you could drive a truck on a mine for half a year and make $180K…If that’s what teachers, nurses and police are hearing what makes us think pastors aren’t also ‘considering their options?’)

Interestingly I have also very recently spoken to 3 ex pastors recently who have told me there is no way they’d go back to pastoring and I know plenty of others who feel the same. Maybe that is a trend too. Pastors exiting as soon as is practicable – or financially sustainable – with no intention of returning.

Personally, I have been asked if my days of leading a church are over and my simple, honest response is firstly, ‘I don’t know’ and secondly that is not just my decision. Choices of that magnitude are always a two person decision because whatever I do impacts Danelle. Pastoring isn’t a job you do then go home. It’s a life you lead amongst a community of people – and you can’t do that solo. I can’t imagine how you would lead and live among a group of people apart from your spouse.

And – to be fair most of my experience of pastoring has been positive. There were difficult times in each role I operated in. In the early days some of it was down to my enneagram 8 directness creating tension in relationships, but there was also plenty of conflict resolution( or lack of) that took it’s toll, as well as the emergence of red tape and risk management stuff. It was this bureaucracy that led me to the brink many times. But the joy of leading a community and sharing in the work God was doing was always more compelling than work that wasn’t as directly connected to spiritual formation.

Perhaps it was just the era I grew up in, where if you heard (or thought you heard) the call of God you simply dropped everything and moved towards that calling. There was an element of sacrifice being normal and for ministry to ‘cost’ and frankly I think that is ok.

I do fear the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction now where potential pastors don’t want to take on anything that will potentially put a strain on marriage or family, or would disadvantage them financially. Again, there is some wisdom in that as I mentioned earlier – we never make solo decisions – but I also see that hese issues will happen in any job and… if Jesus calls the answer is always ‘yes’ and we can figure out the details later.

So is that a trend – a disinclination towards working in pastoral leadership both among up and coming potential leaders and a reticence in those who are older to re-enter the fray?