A Pastor in the Real World

Post Author: Katie Callaway

For years I have joked about what I would do with my life if this ministry thing didn’t work out. As with all jokes, there has always been a part to it that is tragic and true. In February of this year, I swore off congregational ministry. As a pastor, I experienced a type of trauma and pain that I never could have predicted. I did not want to put myself in a situation where that level of pain could be experienced again. In the throes of my grief, I couldn’t imagine a world in which I would open myself up again to love and inevitably be hurt by a congregation. 

As soon as I typed my resignation letter, I was looking for jobs in the real world — the world that felt so foreign after 10 years of congregational ministry, the world that so many of my peers inhabited on a daily basis, the world where employees were protected by legislation that would not allow what happened to me in the church to happen elsewhere. What could I do? Where would I fit? How could I repackage my qualifications to be relevant to the real world? My 3 1/2 degrees in theology did not appear on the surface to translate well to other fields. 

I applied for everything I could think of: non-profit development, publishing acquisitions, education, community organizing, and government. I even looked for jobs in the local zoo where I was moving. You name it, I probably applied for it. One part of me was terrified. Would I ever find something that was fulfilling? Would the “Previous Experience” section on my resume scare off would-be employers with the litany of churches I’d served? But there was also this other part of me whirring with excitement. I had an opportunity to recreate myself, to reimagine what I could do with my life, and to lean in to who I had discovered myself to be rather than who I was being told to be. 

Several months later, I landed a position in the corporate world, doing work to support a development team that is literally changing the world before my eyes. We are doing work that I could have only dreamed of sitting in my pastor’s office, trying to figure out how to allocate the missions budget. My company supports social entrepreneurs with financial and human investments to help them affect their communities for good. 

In my role I am learning about how to be a better administrator, a lesson that was difficult to access while leading a small staff with high stakes where mistakes were not welcomed. I am learning about database management and the importance of keeping track of all external contacts in order to get a better picture of the impact of the organization. I am learning about how to harness technology to create collaboration and maximize impact. 

I have been encouraged over and over again to stick to my hours and maintain my boundaries. In a recent meeting, my supervisor asked, “Why did you respond to that email at 5:45 p.m. last week?” When I tried to explain to her that I had been conditioned to respond to people’s needs as they arise, no matter what time, she gave me a pep talk about respecting myself. It was a very different conversation than I have ever had in church, where I’d learned to cater to everyone’s schedule except my own. 

About a month ago, my company embarked upon our second annual company-wide, two-week rejuvenation break, setting the example of sabbath for the social entrepreneurs we support and the corporate investors who support us. Last year around this time, I was in desperate need of a radical reset like this. When I asked for it—with plenty of notice and supporting evidence—there were some in the congregation who saw it as a threat to the church and my leadership to take time to reset and rest. One person commented that the church needed to be getting people back in the pews, not encouraging the pastor to take a break from the church. There was such a misunderstanding of the day-in-day-out demands on pastors, the trauma we carried from leading a congregation through the pandemic, and the benefits of actually practicing the principles of sabbath that we are called to practice in our sacred texts. I ended up not taking the time of rest that I needed and the burnout I saw coming arrived at my doorstep shortly thereafter. 

After time to heal and rest, signing on with this company has been the best thing I could have never imagined. So over the next two weeks, I will do just that once again. I will practice what I preach because I am supported from above and below to do so. 

In the process, I have recognized that I am indeed called to congregational ministry. Fortunately, another congregation has recognized that too. I have only begun to uncover what it means to be multi-vocational, working in multiple spheres in order to bring my vocational calling to fruition. And so I will begin a new call, while continuing my work in this new field that I have come to love.  

But this time, when I walk into that new church, I will be better equipped with problem-solving skills, technology, administrative skills, and communication skills that will inevitably make me a better pastor. In this real world, I haven’t learned much about exegetical strategies or methods of pastoral care, but I have learned about Google Docs, investor relations, and strategic planning, all of which have enhanced my capabilities as a pastor. 

In the world outside of congregational ministry, I have learned and grown in ways that I did not know were possible. For those who are embracing change in our vocational journeys, I hope my story helps give you hope that there is joy, life, and fulfillment both inside and beyond congregational ministry.