Monday, October 3, 2011

“Part Time” Ministry

There is a fundamental disconnect between the church and the people they hire. I’m not saying there is a problem with the people they hire. I’m saying that there is a problem with which the way they view those they hire.

There is no such thing as a part time pastor, or part time youth pastor. It honestly is a…well I’ll be blunt, it’s a way for churches to hire someone and pay them at half the rate and half the benefits (or none at all) of a full time employee. I’m hesitant to call it a scam but it is borderline.

A youth pastor or whatever you want to call it that is paid based on half time is a joke. I say this because the work of a minister cannot be based on  time. What’s worse is that it’s a slap in the face to say that a youth pastor only works half the time that anyone else in the church works.

As a pastor your work is never done and cannot be measured in hours or checked off in a list of things to do (yes you can have a job description of expectations) . My problem is that churches get away with paying minsters half and knowingly work them for usually more than 40 hours.

I’m not sure why or when we allowed this to happen. Some churches get it right, yet others tend to only see youth pastors an a non essential piece to the ministry puzzle.

Think about it…being a pastor is a 24/7 job…and churches take advantage of it…just saying.

Higgins  

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