When I began ministry many years ago as a youth pastor, the senior pastor I worked for offered me the very good advice that the largest part of a pastor's job is to be present. Unfortunately, I've also tended to see time away as a drawback to the church, a concession they gave me. Mostly, churches don't feel that way. They have tended to encourage me to enjoy vacations, ministry in other contexts, and continuing education experiences. I've had particular support in this regard from my current congregation. Upon returning from the first long vacation I've taken in years, I've been reflecting on reasons that congregations should not only give pastors time away for the pastor's sake, but also for their own self-interest.
1. When congregations encourage rest, renewal, and family connection, their pastors work more diligently, gratefully, and joyfully throughout the rest of the year.
2. Being a pastor has much more to do with the way work is done than it does with the number of hours worked. A pastor whose soul is diminished and who is tired and stressed will make poor decisions and have a poor attitude. When a pastor's soul is in trouble, more work creates more problems for the congregation. It's not like cutting lawns or shoveling snow. When ministry is done from a healthy place, the hours worked will bring fruit and good things for the congregation.
3. When a pastor's family feels neglected, the pastor begins to feel pulled between the competing interests of the family and the church. When a pastor's family feels supported by the congregation and satisfied that the pastor invests time and attention to the family, the pastor is freed to do ministry with support from the family.
4. Going away allows that pastor to see things with fresh eyes. Once, I moved into a home with a small rust stain on the carpet. At first, it drove me crazy. Soon, I never noticed it. When we first arrive at a church, we recognize opportunities and challenges clearly. After time goes by, we acclimate and forget. Going away and returning allows us to come back with newness of vision.
5. It's a very good thing for other people besides the primary pastor to preach. People need to hear fresh voices. The primary pastor needs a break from the incessant return of Sunday. Developing preachers need an opportunity to develop. The primary preacher needs to embody the reality that he or she does not have a corner on the Word of God.
6. When the pastor ministers elsewhere--preaching in other pulpits, mission trips, etc.--the home congregation benefits in many ways. Recently I preached at a former congregation and told of our church's ministry recovering from a hurricane. The congregation I visited gave thousands of dollars to my home church for hurricane ministry. The connections I maintain with other congregations have created partnerships that have proved invaluable in our recovery in many ways. Being connected has paid off big for our church with staff searches. Above all, when a pastor does ministry somewhere else, the pastor embodies the reality that no single congregation contains the Church, that we are all in ministry to all people everywhere and partners in ministry with all other congregations.
7. Pastors often act as if their role in the daily functioning of the church is absolutely essential at all times. This is very unhealthy. When the pastor is away, staff and lay leadership are forced to run things on their own. They find out that they can do so just fine! This allows leadership and the congregation as a whole to function more smoothly and in a more healthy manner whether the pastor is there or not.
8. Pastors have fresh experiences, learn new things, and become more interesting people when they get out of their routine. Once, when visiting relatives in Ithaca, NY, I encountered the idea of a "Alternative Gift Fair" in which people could shop for donations to local non-profits to give in lieu of Christmas presents. I brought this idea back to Montgomery, AL and it was a big hit. We all get stuck telling the same stories, doing the same things. A church whose pastor has a life outside of church life will necessarily be a more interesting person who makes church life more rich and meaningful.
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