By Karl Halverson
In 2022, Barna Research published a report examining the challenges ministers face who have considered leaving their ministries. The study found that 21% of the ministers felt they were “not respected by the congregants,” which led them to seriously consider resigning. Additionally, 38% of the ministers reported having contemplated quitting, citing “current political divisions” as a contributing factor.
The “political divisions” refer to various influential ideologies that have gained traction in recent years. Although, over the past several centuries, these ideologies stayed below the cultural surface, the social, moral, and sexual fabric of the Western world has undergone a significant transformation during that time (see Carl Truman’s The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self). Rod Dreher highlights this reality in his book, Live Not by Lies, when he writes, “The Original American dream . . . was religious: to establish liberty . . . to worship God as dictated by their consciences.” He further explains that in contemporary times, the term American dream has changed to represent wealth and material stability, as well as the freedom to create one’s desired life. Ultimately, it is now “defined by the sacred individual—that is, a Self that is fully the product of choice and consent.”
At this level, we discover why so many ministers want to quit: it is incredibly challenging to oppose the overwhelming tide of “self,” which demands complete autonomy in its choices and consent. This focus on “choice and consent” contributes to the moral and sexual decline we observe not only in society but also find deeply ingrained in the teachings of many within the church, including those in leadership roles. Who can blame ministers for wanting to leave?
We have not even touched on the difficulty of being a leader among people groups worldwide who have no idea who Jesus is. The organization I lead works closely with leaders in dozens of countries. These leaders work among the 3.44 billion people (42.6% of the world’s population) who live under the yoke of atheism, animism, abject materialism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam, with no biblical worldview that affects their cultural decisions (see https://www.joshuaproject.net/). They have never heard the name of Jesus, let alone his power to save. Who could blame the leaders working in these social, moral, and sexual circumstances if they wanted to quit?
What are we to do?
In his book Under the Unpredictable Plant, Eugene Peterson describes the search for this answer as if we were on a journey to find a way to give leaders a “spirituality that is adequate to their vocation.” I like Peterson’s evaluation of the problem (and this particular book is very much worth the read) and would like to offer some insight into how we might continue to work to help ministry leaders in the U.S. and abroad remain faithful in their vital vocational roles, ensuring ministry leaders in the church worldwide produce deeply rooted kingdom fruit.
Preparation, Training, and Transition
One way to support church leaders worldwide in their ministry vocation is to focus on preparation, ongoing training, and ensuring a smooth transition when they return home. TRAIN International is an organization based in Joplin, Missouri that helps over 160 organizations help their missionaries “go prepared and stay effective” by offering pre-field training, ongoing support, and debriefing for missionaries. Some of the organizations they work with are Pioneer Bible Translators, Team Expansion, New International, CMF, and Send International. TRAIN also works with church missions teams to promote long-term health and effectiveness for their on-field missionaries.
TRAIN has found that an effective way to achieve this goal is to catch problems as close to their inception as possible. They use ongoing coaching, which helps with the day-to-day reality of on-field ministry. They also use spiritual direction to help the heart of the missionaries be firmly grounded in Christ. Brian Gibson, TRAIN’s president, pointed out that research based on interviews with TRAIN participants shows that 21% of those who were coming off the field would have stayed on if they had had the ongoing care of coaching and spiritual direction. “If we can help them make a small course correction in the midst of a problem, as opposed to making a big correction when they are fed up with being a missionary,” Gibson notes, “many could be saved from quitting.”
Conferences and Ministry Events
Something that can be done to support leaders in U.S. ministry and help prevent them from quitting is to provide opportunities for them to attend conferences. While this may seem obvious (even ubiquitous in its mere suggestion), I want to highlight a specific conference: the International Conference on Missions (ICOM). Whether you are familiar with it or not, I believe it to be a crucial conference for U.S. based church leaders as a means to help them gain much-needed ammunition in their fight against the “principalities and powers” trying to drive them from their vocation. I feel this way for the following reasons.
First, ICOM’s exclusive focus on world missions can help to focus U.S. church leaders on the larger context of God’s hand at work worldwide. This can take their eyes off of their own problems and broaden their perspective, one that the author of Hebrews was directing us to when he said, “Remember . . . those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body” (Hebrews 13:3, New American Standard Bible). We’ve seen that ministers want to quit because they feel disrespected by their congregations and because of political divisions. What if those ministers were to learn of the perseverance of a Muslim background believer who doesn’t quit though he is persecuted? Or if they got to know a brother who ministers faithfully in a social system with 68 different political parties? Could it be that they would gain incredible encouragement in their own fight to remain faithful? I know I have, and I think they would as well.
Another reason ICOM is a conference that can bring needed reinforcement of vocational vows is because of the nature of the conference itself. It seems as though most conferences in the U.S. emphasize leadership or making one’s church as big as possible. ICOM’s purpose is “to encourage, equip, and enlist workers for the harvest.” To be sure, they talk a great deal about leadership and growing the church, but they focus on what Steve Richardson in his book, Is the Commission Still Great?, says is the primary mission of the church: to bless all peoples of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are to be people who connect with Jesus in the many forms he describes in Matthew 25, U.S. church leaders must intentionally put themselves in the places where those people are. World missions does this quite effectively, and I think it would help to heal enough of the low-level neurosis garnered from ministry in the U.S. and save a lot of ministers.
These two solutions to the problem of minister vocational attrition will take effort on the part of the church leaders who control budgets and schedules. Funds and free time need to be prioritized for ongoing coaching, spiritual direction, and conference attendance for those who need it. We can all agree that Jesus himself, though being in his essence God, still needed time with God (see Mark 1). Even though these ministers and missionaries have the Holy Spirit and a spiritual life with God, they (not being in their essence God) need something more. The type of service that TRAIN offers and the focus that is found at ICOM can be a big part of this “something more.”
The Power of Prayer
One more thing can be done in the battle to strengthen church ministers and missionaries: prayer. You probably expected this, but there are two reasons it should be taken seriously as an aspect of retaining church and ministry leaders.
First of all, we find that many pages of Scripture show us people praying. Whether in exaltation or desperation, people prayed. And the underlying presumption on God’s part is that we should pray. Jesus said, “When you pray” (Luke 11:2). The apostles needed to be able to focus on “prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Paul exhorted the Philippians to set aside anxiety and “in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” make their requests known to God, and they will find the thing that will see them through, hearts and minds guarded by Christ’s peace (Philippians 4:6-7, New International Version).
The second reason I bring it up is because, in a discussion with J.R. Bucklew of Pioneer Bible Translators, I learned how God is working very specifically today through intentional prayers. J.R. was kind enough to share with me how the leadership of PBT believes fully that the Lord is honoring their commitment to prayer and sustaining their leadership in ways that are quite humbling. When Greg Pruett took leadership of PBT 20 years ago, he sensed the Lord wanted him to “make prayer the strategy.” So Greg instituted prayer as the foundational approach through which PBT would work. They have budgeted time and financial resources to make prayer their posture towards whatever might come their way.
J.R. shared with me that Greg believes their commitment to prayer as their strategy is being honored by God. The Lord has helped PBT’s staff deal with the many cultural shifts that have happened in the West over the past 20 years and blessed their worldwide staff with a resilience that resists the pull of so many of the destructive forces at work in cultures that know nothing of a biblical worldview. In particular, they have been able to navigate in a gracious yet uncompromising way the troubled waters of women in leadership, divided opinions on political issues, LGBTQ+ issues, and issues dealing with sexuality and fidelity. Many of these issues are pushing too many leaders out of their ministry vocations.
Church leaders today face immense challenges caused by cultural shifts that emphasize autonomy, individualism, and complex social issues conflicting with biblical truths. Ministers and missionaries confront these challenges both in their congregations and on the mission field, with many feeling the weight of these pressures intensely. Supporting them requires a multi-faceted approach: fostering spiritual resilience through training programs like those offered by TRAIN, providing ongoing support and direction, and encouraging participation in conferences such as ICOM that offer a global perspective on the church and mission work. Additionally, as J.R. Bucklew from PBT highlights, prayer at strategy’s core can sustain leaders through even the most turbulent times. The church can help its leaders remain steadfast in their roles by emphasizing these supports, thus producing a long-lasting gospel impact worldwide.
Karl Halverson is executive director of Literature and Teaching Ministries and president of College Press Publishing Company in Joplin, Missouri.
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