Many pastors remember struggling in their first ministerial position””isolated geographically or professionally, lacking ready access to mentors and peers. The first person to greet young Daniel Aleshire after he led his first worship service “told me my sermon was ‘the worst damn sermon’ he had ever heard.”
Aleshire was forewarned that the man was a troubled congregant. But the comments from the rest of the Baptist congregation months later “were so ambiguous that I was never sure how I was doing,” said Aleshire, now top executive at the Association of Theological Schools.
More than a decade ago, analysts of congregational ministry for the Lilly Endowment decided that seminarians’ customary year or nine months of internship at a church were not enough to prepare graduates for the pitfalls and anxieties facing a new pastor.
I appreciate the effort to help clergy prepare for their first solo call. I wish though that someone would to say to congregations that the behavior of ‘troubled congregants’ is enabled by the congregation. The congregation can stop this behavior and needs to be challenged to do so.
Giving the pastor a bullet proof vest is one solution. Holding people accountable for their distructive behavior is another.
I guess I am a little skeptical about the topic because the fellow in the quote left the profession. I have a pet theory that seminaries and national church organizations tend to attract pastors who have had trouble shepherding their flock.
Same can be said for novice teachers. Many leave teaching before the 5 year mark.
I have experience with two associate pastors that have moved on to be senior pastors of their own congregations. I am proud to have been a small part of their development. I think the role of the congregation is to lift these pastors up and encourage them. Sure, the initial sermons can be a bit rough but over time they improve dramatically. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that they are there in the pulpit not for my entertainment and critique but are offering their perspective on God’s word for my life in worship. We can’t afford to run off clergy because of our own hang-ups.
I hope that part of the formation program will include tutoring in taking funerals and weddings. Most clergy will remember how nervous they were the first few times with these. Especially funerals. With experience I began to recognise that grieving was not a monolithic process, but took many different forms. People grieve the love they have had, the love they had and lost, and the love they never had. Sometimes this can create a difficult mix of emotions. I also realise – after taking many many funerals – that no matter how many you take, each one, deep deep down, reminds you that one day someone will take your funeral, and hence they can be surprisingly energy-draining, even for an experienced pastor.
The Alban report can be downloaded at [url=http://alban-transitionintoministry.org/]alban-transitionintoministry.org[/url]. A printed copy can be requested at tim@alban.org.
I got out of seminary in 1994 and was immediately thrown under the bus for two years. And even though the bishop who ordained me took a certain amount of pride in his monthly “mentoring” weekends with the new kids, he was pretty far out of touch with our real needs, and wasn’t ready to hear them. Luckily, two priests in that diocese looked out for my interests, and shared a timely word. In my experience, seminary just didn’t prepare me for dysfunctional parish dynamics. And if a new kid winds up in charge of a parish with fussing and feuding in their dna, God help ’em, because the “healthy” members aren’t likely to. Seminary doesn’t prepare anyone for verbal abuse, abusive phone calls, slander, geographical and mental isolation, and so forth. And because newbies lack both credibility and authority, they can easily get their tails handed to them by a dysfunctional parishioner with far more battle experience than they. Joe #1, you are absolutely correct. Adam #2, sometimes it takes more courage to leave than to stay.