Johnny Paycheck’s country hit song from 1977 resonates through the minds of worship leaders everywhere at the beginning of the year. Burned out from the holidays, they surf job placement websites to see if the grass is greener.
Understanding Valid Reasons for Ministry Transitions
There are many reasons why you might want to leave your church job – some good and some bad. Maybe the Lord is calling you to full-time ministry but you’re volunteering or working part-time. Start looking for a church that can afford to hire you. Perhaps you have big ideas and dreams but are stuck in a church with weak leadership who are content to settle for mediocrity. Start looking for a church with leaders who share your goals and passion.
Or maybe you’re in a church with headaches that are Divinely designed to build your character.
Learning Through Ministry Challenges
I was on the music support staff of a church with a big, ugly headache in the form of a personality conflict. Since I wasn’t “the boss” there wasn’t much I could do about it (except suffer.) God brought a great ministry opportunity my way and I quickly took the job as music director.
A few weeks into the job I realized I was smack-dab in the middle of the exact same personality conflict. Different church, different people, same problem. The issue was so oddly identical that I realized God was probably trying to teach me something. After a lot of study, prayer and counsel I summoned up the courage to confront the issue head on – but at least now I was the boss and had the authority to do something about it. The problem was resolved, I learned a valuable lesson of taking charge in a hard situation and had the time of my life at that ministry for many years.
Making Wise Ministry Decisions
Which church issues are you facing? They’re of two varieties: those that can be fixed or managed, and those that can’t. This year ask the Lord to give you wisdom to navigate ministry problems – He’ll either help you solve them or lead you to a better place.
by Don Chapman
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