There is a particular type of theological grief that a pastor experiences which may account for the large number of pastors who drop out of the ministry in the first five years of ministry. When a person experiences a call to serve God in the ministry, s/he also has at least some vague idea of what that might mean. Then they go to seminary and begin to shape their understanding of the ministry. The image of the ministry becomes more concrete. Their thoughts are formed by theological beliefs and images of how God wants the people of God to respond as a church. In many cases, candidates for the ministry has not even had a lot of experience in the church, maybe having dropped out as a teenager, and then some experience later moves them to make this response.
Then, having completed their education and training, they receive a call to an actual church. This is where there is a clash between the ideals of their theologically shaped idea of ministry and the reality of managing a church. Though called by God, they are hired by a congregation, and the members have very definite, though often conflicting, ideas of who a minister is and what s/he should be doing as their pastor. Think about the amount of time that you spend on mundane tasks that seem to have little to do with the spiritual. There is a grief in letting go or at least transforming your ideas about church to match the reality you experience.
Some clergy are so disappointed that they leave the ministry. Others lower their expectations and find themselves doing a job rather than responding to a calling. And some are fortunate enough to find help in reforming their theological ideas in a way that helps them rediscover faithful ministry in the ordinary activities of church life.
In the next blog, we turn to exploring how we respond to these various forms of grief so that we can continue to respond in a healthy manner.
