Comments on: Four Areas Church Employees Need to Rethink: Part 3–Modeling Boundary Setting http://rhettsmith.com/2009/05/four-areas-church-employees-need-to-rethink-part-3-modeling-boundary-setting/ Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:02:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: rhettsmith http://rhettsmith.com/2009/05/four-areas-church-employees-need-to-rethink-part-3-modeling-boundary-setting/comment-page-1/#comment-7309 rhettsmith Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:33:49 +0000 http://rhettsmith.com/?p=2346#comment-7309 Adam, More pastors need people like you in their life...watching out for their health. I agree, many people don't know what a pastor does, when most work very, very hard. It's hard to put some of the work into tangible stuff...so they pile on more meetings, teachings, etc. Adam,

More pastors need people like you in their life…watching out for their health. I agree, many people don't know what a pastor does, when most work very, very hard. It's hard to put some of the work into tangible stuff…so they pile on more meetings, teachings, etc.

]]> By: Adam S http://rhettsmith.com/2009/05/four-areas-church-employees-need-to-rethink-part-3-modeling-boundary-setting/comment-page-1/#comment-7105 Adam S Tue, 05 May 2009 02:08:21 +0000 http://rhettsmith.com/?p=2346#comment-7105 I have some friends that were pastors (co-pastor couple) of my church. They were working about 70 hours a week between the two of them. While I was chair of the deacons (body that oversaw the pastors) I strived to get them to turn in time sheets. Not to make sure they were doing work, but to help the deacons know that they were doing more work than they should. I wanted to insure that they were taking time off with family and help the deacons to see how they spent their time. I had done the same thing with the previous two pastors at the church. And no one would do it. But once I moved and was no longer their to advocate for a healthy lifestyle for the pastors they were fired (within three months of me leaving). The stated reason was because they weren't working enough. I know they were working more than 70 hours a week between them. They replaced a single pastor that also worked too much but he was being paid more than they were combined and they were working more hours. I think one of the major reasons that pastors don't have healthier lifestyles is that they are afraid of being fired. Part of the problem is that churches (and their boards) often don't really know what a pastor does. The pastor preaches and comes to come meetings. What else do they do? I have some friends that were pastors (co-pastor couple) of my church. They were working about 70 hours a week between the two of them. While I was chair of the deacons (body that oversaw the pastors) I strived to get them to turn in time sheets. Not to make sure they were doing work, but to help the deacons know that they were doing more work than they should. I wanted to insure that they were taking time off with family and help the deacons to see how they spent their time.

I had done the same thing with the previous two pastors at the church. And no one would do it. But once I moved and was no longer their to advocate for a healthy lifestyle for the pastors they were fired (within three months of me leaving). The stated reason was because they weren’t working enough. I know they were working more than 70 hours a week between them. They replaced a single pastor that also worked too much but he was being paid more than they were combined and they were working more hours.

I think one of the major reasons that pastors don’t have healthier lifestyles is that they are afraid of being fired. Part of the problem is that churches (and their boards) often don’t really know what a pastor does. The pastor preaches and comes to come meetings. What else do they do?

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