Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, recently asked more than twenty pastors who had been in ministry for at least 25 years a single question: “What regrets do you have about the years you have served as a pastor?” The top seven answers follow:
- Lack of practical training for local church ministry
- Overly concerned about critics
- Failure to exercise faith
- Not enough time with family
- Failure to understand basic business and finance issues
- Failure to share ministry
- Failure to make friends.
So What?
Notably all of those surveyed were male and over age 55. While their experiential wisdom is helpful to those seeking to better understand ministry, it should not be assumed that seasoned female clergy or any younger clergy would offer similar responses. Thankfully, in response to a comment asking why women were not included, Rainer acknowledged that “responses from female clergy would likely have significant differences.”
- If you are a pastor, what are your top pastoral regrets?
- If you are a follower of Jesus who is not a pastor, how does this list help you better understand the realities of pastoral ministry as experienced by many experienced clergy?