Sermon Illustrations: Pastors

Anecdotes

A survey was taken in a church asking how many hours per week their pastor should devote to activities such as administration, counselling, evangelism, evangelism, sermon preparation and visitation. The average expectation totalled eighty-two hours per week. One person even suggested a total of 200 hours per week!

A pastor parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was in a hurry and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that said: "I have circled the block ten times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses." He returned later to find a ticket from a police officer along with this note "I've circled this block for ten years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."

1500 pastors leave the ministry every month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or conflict in their church; 34% of pastors' marriages end up in divorce; 80% of pastors and 84% of pastors' wives feel unqualified and discouraged; 50% of pastors would leave if they could make a living doing something else; 80% of seminary and Bible college graduates will leave ministry within the first 5 years; 80% of pastors believe their ministry affected their families negatively; 33% believed ministry was a hazard to their family; 5% felt themselves unable to meet the needs of the job; 90% felt inadequately trained to cope with the demands of ministry; 90% work more than 46 hours per week; 70% of pastors feel that they have lower self esteem now vs. when they started out in ministry; 40% of pastors reported having a serious conflict with a parishioner/congregant at least once a month; 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend - someone they can confide in; 37% of pastors confessed to having been involved in inappropriate sexual behaviour with someone in the church; 60% of pastors' wives hold full-time jobs or are involved in careers to meet family needs; 63% suffer marriage problems due to congregational difficulties; 81% suffer marriage problems due to insufficient time together; 94% of pastors felt under pressure to have the "ideal" family; 45% of pastors' wives have no close friends. Willow magazine Vol 1, Issue 3, April 2008, p 1-2 citing statistics by George Barna, Victor Parachini & Fuller Institute