Chapter 7 in my book, Close Your Church for Good, is called “Resign as Pastor.” In it, I explore the idea of pastors resigning from Professional pastoral ministry. Why? So we can be better pastors!

Please note that due to some of the feedback I receive on these posts, this chapter might be radically revised for the final edition of the book. These changes will only be available in the print or eBook version when it comes out.

Here are the blog posts that come from this chapter:

• Leaving the Pastorate
• Pastoral Pay
  • Pastoral Pay and the Levitical Priesthood
  • Is it more blessed to give than to receive?
  • Do not Muzzle the Ox
  • Elders are Worthy of Double Honor
  • Paying Your Pastor
• Pastoral Popularity
  • Exponential Church Growth
• Pastoral Power
  • Pastoral Power Play
  • High Priestly Pastors
  • Spiritual Fatherhood
• Benefits to Resigning as Pastor
• The Threat of Getting Fired
• Finding Work as an Ex-Pastor
• Benefits of Working in the Community
• Redeem the Pastor

To read the content of any other chapters, check out the post which contains the Table of Contents to Close Your Church for Good.

When considering leaving the pastorate, the first thing to think about is why you are a pastor in the first place. And you need to be brutally honest.

The main pitfalls in pastoral ministry, and some of the main reasons that pastors remain pastors, include three things: money, popularity, and power. I know, we all deny that these hold any sway over us, and yet pastors all around us keep falling for them. Maybe you are immune, but over the next few posts, I want to pose a few diagnostic questions to help you determine where your heart might be at.

If it becomes clear that one or more of these pitfalls do hold sway over you, one of the best ways to defeat them is to resign as pastor. But we’ll get to that.

In this post, we want to look at the issue of Pastoral Pay.

Very few pastors who would say they are in pastoral ministry for the money.

How could they be, since most pastors don’t get paid all that well?

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In my first pastorate, after over three years of ministry, the church board told me that due to budget constraints, they no longer had the funds to pay my salary.

This was a turning point in my life. I loved the church. I loved the people. I loved the area. But I also wanted to provide for my wife and our newborn daughter. I had a strong urge to remain the pastor of the church, and find a “secular” job in the community. I rejected the urge, and took another pastorate in another town.

Looking back, I regret that decision. I wish I had stayed. I wish I had pastored without pay.

I would have learned so much working in the community, among the people I wanted to love and serve. I would have lost my fear of losing the big tither in church. I would have gained freedom to teach the Scriptures clearly. I would have gained the liberty to lead the people into the community. I don’t know what would have happened, but looking back now, it is what I wish I had done.
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