Caught in the Middle, Again

Over the years I have observed an unspoken but very real tension involving pastors and congregants. There are plenty of areas for there to be tensions: politics, theology, external versus internal orientation, chaplaincy or mission, contemporary or traditional worship, and the lists go on. Each pastor can list their own series of tension areas. Yet, there is one in which the pastor is caught and very well may not have the first inclination of its reality.

For a while I thought this tension was peculiar to western Pennsylvania. Upon reflection on other areas of the country where I have served, I now think it is far more pervasive in the Church and across the country. As a pastor, as a member and chair of the Committee on Ministry, and as a General Presbyter (kind of like a Methodist District Superintendent) I have had ample opportunity to observe this cloaked tension. Regardless of congregational size or location this tension is not actually between the pastor and members of the congregation, but the pastor is definitely caught in the tension.

The tension is visible with the annual review of pastoral compensation, or when the pastor asks permission to go on a spiritual retreat for some decompression time. Listen in the corridors or in the parking lot and you will hear comments about the pastor being paid too much; “we don’t get four weeks of vacation after only a year on the job;” “I don’t get paid mileage;” “Don’t they learn enough in seminary? Why do they need continuing education time and funding;” “Now, the pastor wants more time off the job to gaze at their navel.”

The tension in the life of the congregation is between those with a labor or management mindset. There are those in the congregation with what I call a management or owners perspective. Likewise there are those with what I call a labor perspective. Before I go further, let me admit to using stereotypes and not disparaging any particular people or status. Those with a management or owners perspective tend to view the pastor as an employee. Those with this perspective typically want the most production for the least cost and with the least lost time. Those with a labor perspective tend to view the pastor as upper management, and “everybody knows they are paid too much for what little they do.”

Therefore, pastoral compensation and down time are suppressed by each perspective. If asked nobody in a congregation would admit to functioning from either perspective. Yet, listening to comments and observing attitudes the hidden management/labor perspectives function in the life of the congregation. It is possible for both perspectives to be voiced by the same congregants depending on the situation. There are very few voices from comparable “professionals” in the life of a congregation who will champion the cause of the pastor.

What is a pastor to do? There is little which can be done, other than to realize it is another of the tensions/binds which come with pastoral ministry.