Departure: Why I Left the Church
This powerful story from a Presbyterian minister began making the rounds on social media this past week. Read it and spiritually ponder it. Check out our ForthTelling Innovation insights below.
Rev. Alexander Lang preaches his last sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, IL (Credit: Steve Drey)
Departure: Why I Left the Church
Read the Story of Rev. Alexander Lang HERE. It begins with these words . . .
“This past Sunday, I preached my last sermon as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights. I have made the decision that I’m not only leaving my post as head of staff, but I’m going to be leaving the pastorate all together. I no longer have a desire to serve as a pastor in the church. In my sermon, I told my congregation that I was exhausted from writing, memorizing and preaching sermons week after week for 10 years, which is true. However, there are other reasons why I'm leaving that I didn't have time to discuss in my sermon and I want to utilize this article to do a deep dive into how I came to my decision.”
Also, watch this video . . .
Prayerfully ponder your thoughts and emotions about what you have read and seen. Where do you see yourself in this story? Are you the pastor? Are you a denominational official? Are you a member of this church? Are you a member of the community wondering what is going on? Are you a member of another church or a pastor or staff in another church with a theological, emotional, or true life experience to share? Are you a person who has experienced this type of situation from whatever your perspective might be?
ForthTelling Innovation Insights: Church pastoral experience within a denomination is an integrative system. It involves the pastor and their role. It involves the congregation who votes to call them to that role or the denomination who chooses to appoint or approve them for that role. It involves the college/university and seminary/divinity school or other ministry preparation systems. All must be healthy and empowering the journey of congregations.
In the book, The Churching of America by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, HERE, suggest the professionalizing of clergy, the education requirements, and the formalizing of the ordination and credentialing processes was historically antithetical to the growth and progress of churches and denominations. Such processes may also have negatively impacted pastors in systems where, as Alexander Lang describes, there are a multitude of hoops to jump through to become an installed pastor of a church.
Many congregations—probably the majority in our 50 years of experience—place unrealistic expectations on the role and function of the pastor. The congregation participants bring their life experiences—the good, the bad, and the ugly—to their church experience. They see the pastor as a God representative, and when they are disappointed or angry with God, they cannot get their hands on God, but they can on the pastor.
This is a church who may be like thousands we have experienced during years of consulting, teaching, and writing. Many good qualities. Many good people. But no empowering vision of where God is leading them next around which they are united and active daily. Thus, they look to the pastor to provide that vision. This increases the pressure on the pastor.
God is the source of vision and not the pastor. God seeks to impart vision to the congregation. The pastor simply casts the vision God is imparting. It is both a spiritual and strategic process. The congregation must own and become people who cast and activate the fulfillment of the vision.
Yes, the pastor must boldly lead them to do this. At times this is very hard. Some pastors are not spiritually and strategically gifted in this area of ministry, and it can radically increase their stress.
Concerning a spiritual call to pastoral ministry—on “Blue Mondays” it is often only this spiritual call that sustains pastors. Pastors need an effective support system that will help them have “Tremendous Tuesdays”. Without great support systems pastors may experience various degrees of PTSD, as it has been suggested by social media comments.
Our only caution regarding what Alexander Lang has shared in listing the various parts of his role is that many entrepreneurs—perhaps some in his own congregation—have those same roles when they start a new business. Plus, add to it that often they are financially responsible for the business. Thus, if they feel the need to walk away or the business goes under, they will not only have a loss of income, but perhaps massive debt for which they are responsible.
The pressure this and other pastors experience may actually help them identify with lay members who face similar pressures in their vocations. It could provide a way they can support one another as Christians in ministry and the marketplace.
I read Lang’s article and grieve for his loss to the church and the church’s loss of him. Anyone who has been in ministry for very long can identify. I do not want what I’m about to say to be perceived as kicking the man while he is down. While I have not walked in his shoes, I have walked in my own for 46 years in ministry.
Stress and loneliness are killers, but they don’t have to be. In Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret he talked about the pressures of his missionary life in China. He said it did not matter how great the pressure as long as it pressed him upon God. And no matter how light the pressure and stress, if it pushed him away from God, the consequences would be disastrous. I always tried to remember that and be self aware of my own spiritual health and relationship with God. Thanks to Eugene Peterson I learned to pray the Psalms. Praying those revenge psalms were a great help in dealing with church people! In Peterson’s introduction to 1 Corinthians, he says just because someone becomes a Christian doesn’t mean the automatically become nice. Reading that and the epistle, were a great reminder things could be worse. When Jesus said take up your cross and follow me, it was our first clue life would not be easy. Dealing with the stress of ministry is a life long effort and I make no claim of perfecting the management of it. I’ll write no books on the topic, but will continue to be a learner.
Loneliness does not have to be our state. When I saw pastors withdraw from fellowship activities with other pastors and not engage in the ministry outside their own church, it was a red flag. Too many times burnout, moral failure, or collapsed marriages followed. You have to actively seek relationships outside the church and when possible, to have one or two close relationships in the church, if you are going to survive. I told my congregations often that there are no Lone Rangers in the Christian community. But it doesn’t just happen. You have to seek it out. While pressure and stress are inevitable, I do not believe loneliness is.
I hope Lang finds his way back into pastoral ministry. Maybe this time in the wilderness will be restorative for him. I pray so.
Thanks, George, for reposting this article. Pastor Lang’s experience is not unique. As I read it, I am preparing a sermon on Colossians 1:24-2:5, a passage in which Paul once again speaks to the origin and purpose of our call. May our Lord help us live well in the tension of serving his ‘yet to be perfect Church’ through our own gifts and weaknesses.