This is the second of three resets from the fall of 2021 exploring the question of when a pastor might want or need to leave his church. A part of that question is why we stay? Why do we hang around doing a job that is admittedly hard with people who can be inexplicably difficult?

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EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Eugene Peterson, The Pastor (United States: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011), p. 314, 315.

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My reflections here are idiosyncratic and anecdotal. More deeply studied and quantified insight on pastoral sustainability can be found in the superb books Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving by Bob Burns, et. al. and Michael E. Osborne’s Surviving Ministry: How to Weather the Storms of Church Leadership.

This line appears in the companion song to “Stay” called “The Load-Out.” Both conclude Browne’s album “Running on Empty,” the title of which, ironically, is resonant of pastoral experience.

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

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