Doing the Math On My Vocation, Part II
I think about leaving ministry when the liturgist is being passive-aggressive.
I think about leaving ministry when worship attendance is down.
I think about leaving ministry when I can’t afford music classes for my kids.
I think about leaving ministry when another Christmas Eve goes by without seeing my family.
I think about leaving ministry when the church feels irrelevant.
I think about leaving ministry when my sermon sucks.
I think about leaving ministry when the repairs to the manse never happen.
I think about leaving ministry when God seems light years away.
I think about leaving ministry when vestry meetings haunt my dreams.
I think about leaving ministry when I can’t bear to hear another colleague complain about her parish.
But I haven’t left yet. And sometimes I think I never will.
I think about leaving ministry if there are no people willing to contribute to the parish in terms of time and “deed”.
Just came across a book that really helps me with this: “22 Keys to Being a Minister (without quitting or wishing for early retirement)”. At the end of a very rough month, it came to me as hope between paperback covers. It’s written by Jan G. Linn and published by Chalice Press. My favourite chapters so far? “Remember Who (Okay, Whom) You Work For” and “Don’t Idealize Motivation”. That last is a huge issue for me! Common sense advice for those of us who love the church, but don’t always love working within it!
I left the ministry 6 1/2 years ago … and then came running back. There are no sorrows like the sorrows of ministry – but the joys cannot be duplicated outside of ministry. Thank God it’s worth it!
Amen Yejide.
May we hold our vision of “the church as is meant to be” close enough for it to inspire us, and far enough ahead that we aren’t discouraged by the contrast!
This list made me cry. I love my vocation. Yet such love means I am more deeply disappointed than I would be with something that meant less to me.
I think about leaving the ministry but God won’t let me
I think about leaving when I see people who’ve been in church for years be so mean that I wonder “does this make any difference?”
I think about leaving the ministry when the congregation can’t stop talking about what used to be – and about how good it was then (and how bad it is now?)