There are a lot of misconceptions and unknowns about the occupation of pastoral ministry. There is also an an extremely broad and diverse group of people that fall under this category whether it be legally or spiritually. So although this list may be obvious for some I thought it might be enlightening for others that may not know exactly how the whole church career thing might be different than other jobs.
  1. Housing Allowance- Back in the day pastors got parsonages. These days we get our own house, but a portion of each paycheck is considered housing which is part of your salary, but is not a part of your gross income and is not legally taxable. This amount has to coincide with how much you actually spend on your house (apartment or furnishings). We do a lot of renovations on our house each year and so we keep record of that so we know how much to allot for our housing allowance.
  1. Different Days Off- Most employees in the business world work Monday-Friday having Saturdays and Sundays to rest. However those weekend days are some of the busiest days for ministers so at our church the pastoral staff is given Mondays and Tuesdays off. I love this because we miss the rush when we go out to eat or have family time, but when our kids are in school it will be difficult to maneuver opposite schedules (any advice for those in this boat is welcome!)
  1. Not Synonymous With Preacher– As most of you know my husband is the associate pastor and worship leader at our church. He does preach sometimes when our Pastor is away, but the term Pastor covers many roles besides preaching. Think of it like having a doctorate. When you think of Doctor it is typically a medical position, but you can academically be a Doctor in many different fields. It’s like that.
  1. They don’t have to wear suits– This might be obvious to many of you, but some people really do think all pastors wear suits. I don’t want to start a huge controversy on here, but the truth is some do some don’t. At our church they don’t. My husband typically wears jeans and a plaid shirt for his Sunday uniform.
  1. You don’t have to go to seminary– This is another super duper controversial statement. There was an episode of Friends where Joey was ordained online so that he could officiant Ross’s wedding. Being ordained is not always that simple though, some denominations have very specific criteria including being nominated, having a pastoral degree, and real life ministry experience.
  1. They can officiate weddings, funerals, and baby dedications– Along with baptisms these are some of the ceremonial traditions that only a pastor can do (conventionally anyway).

7. They work at least 40 hours each week– I was at a friends house and her little boy asked where J was. I answered that he was working at the church. The boy said “Is he practicing his guitar”. I thought it was cute. His mom said her boys think that J is up at the church working on music all day. Wouldn’t that be nice? The truth is there is a long list of things included in the responsibility of a pastor like overseeing all of the ministries within the church, working on the publications including the bulletin, ads, or mail outs, counseling people in the church, managing the building. The list could go on and on and it will be different for every church. In our case it ends up meaning lots of over time.

  1. They are not their own boss– A lot of people have the idea that the Pastor is the head of the church and runs the whole show. However in most churches there is a system of checks and balances just like the government. Our church is non denominational, but we do have a board of ministers outside of the church that we are accountable to and we have a group of elders that have biweekly meetings. These are the guys that determine our salary, benefits, and other major decisions.
  1. They may or may not have a formal title– Reverend, Brother, Bishop, Pastor, or just plain Mr. are some of the titles you may see before a minister’s names. Once again this depends on the denomination. Some people do refer to my husband as Pastor J when they address him, but if you do call him this don’t be surprised if you get a chuckle in response.
  2. They are real people– Pastors can be like celebrities in some ways. It’s like they are expected to perform on command in order to please an audience and then their lives and families are subjected to a level of criticism that no one should ever have to live up to. I don’t feel this way about our church, but I’ve certainly seen it happen. And I am not saying that spiritual leaders shouldn’t be held to a higher standard, or politicians for that matter (ahem, Weiner), but I am saying that Pastors are just people and unless anyone knows of any animals leading a congregation then that is a fact.

J with the youth pastor and lead pastor at a festival promoting our coffee shop ministry.

If I can get this post up by the end of the day I will link up with Oh Amanda’s Top Ten.