On Monday mornings, many pastors consider stepping away from their ministry. According to a 2022 Barna study, more than half of pastors who have considered quitting full-time ministry cite the stress of the job as a primary concern. A big part of that stress comes from a sense of constant hurry.
There’s a crisis in pastoral ministry, and something must change or even more churches will be pastorless. Pastoral ministry can be different. It has to be different for the church to thrive.
In The Unhurried Pastor: Redefining Productivity for a More Sustainable Ministry, Brian Croft, a former pastor and now executive director of Practical Shepherding, and Ronnie Martin, pastor-in-residence at Redeemer Community Church, advocate for a countercultural vision of pastoral productivity—one that brings joy and longevity through humility, self-awareness, prayer, contemplation, silence, rest, and friendship. They apply their decades of experience pastoring and mentoring other pastors as they argue for a different understanding of ministry effectiveness.
Pastors Aren’t Superheroes
Pastors cannot do it all. Pastors could never do it all. They weren’t made to bear the burdens of the whole congregation; that role is exclusively for Jesus Christ. But that doesn’t stop some pastors from trying. As Croft and Martin observe, “The reality is that most of us try to shepherd like superheroes—but the problem is that there’s nothing superhuman about us” (19). Instead, pastors must remember their humanity and their need to embrace their limitations.
But accepting limitations is hard. The pastoral vocation has no boundaries—there are always more needs in our congregation and more lost people to evangelize. It’s easy for our identities to become tied to how much we do. However, according to Croft and Martin, when pastors remember they’re finite beings, they’ll notice how God’s grace meets them in their physical, spiritual, and emotional limitations. This book’s plea is that pastors should remain humble and pray for God to grow them, rather than feel shame for their limitations.
The pastoral vocation has no boundaries—there are always more needs in our congregation and more lost people to evangelize.
A major theme throughout the book is that shepherds prioritize being before doing the work of ministry. That’s hard, because pastors are often scrutinized by congregants who wonder what they do in their weekly routines beyond sermon preparation and Sunday responsibilities. So a pastor may assume the role of “general contractor” by “making sure everyone can see what [he’s] building” and recognize his progress (36).
This “general contractor” approach to ministry can lead pastors to focus on doing more than being, which often crowds out personal soul care. “The truth is,” Croft and Martin argue, “that every pastor is in danger of becoming anxious with many ministry things” (41). Pastors can’t stop serving their congregations diligently, but a pastor characterized by “busyness and anxiety . . . will look in the mirror one day and see a person that does not resemble a shepherd anymore” (41).
Productivity Begins with Spiritual Disciplines
“We are all engaged in a spiritual battle to become more self-aware,” the authors assert (63). As pastors grow in awareness of their limitations, they need to draw their attention to becoming whole and healthy people. Mental, spiritual, and physical healthiness for pastors requires creating margin in their schedules for prayer and deep contemplation. According to Croft and Martin, “Contemplation provides the space for us to differentiate between what is true and what is not so that we develop healthier patterns of working and thinking” (79).
Having margin also helps pastors experience God in everyday life. “As pastors,” the authors write, “we need to lean [on God] as much as we lead [other people], and probably more” (81). Slowing down reminds us we’re dependent on God.
Part of the message is that pastors aren’t a special kind of Christian. All believers need to be constantly refilled by their relationship with God. Pastors should embrace unhurriedness so they can grow more hopeful about what God is doing and thankful for the good things he has done. This attitude only comes with time. According to Martin and Croft, “To be a person who recounts the wondrous deeds of the Lord requires time for prolonged thoughts and prayers, and to give your heart the margin it needs to be reshaped through the act of being grateful to God” (86).
Pastors should embrace unhurriedness so they can grow more hopeful about what God is doing and thankful for the good things he has done.
But the problem remains: Sanctification is hard to measure. In our metric-hungry world, being a pastor can be hard “because pastoral ministry is generally busier with the productivity of the heart than with the productivity of the hands” (90). And yet pastors who create margin for spiritual disciplines will be, in the long run, more productive with their hands by resisting burnout from ministry.
Endurance Necessitates a Care Plan
Burnout occurs when pastors neglect personal soul care. The sort of soul care Croft and Martin advocate for is justified in Scripture. Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, warns Moses about trying to do everything himself and encourages him to delegate for the sake of his ministry’s longevity (Ex. 18:13–23). Paul warned the Ephesian elders to “pay careful attention” to themselves so they could remain faithful in paying attention to the flock (Acts 20:28). And Jesus himself, as God incarnate, would slip off alone to pray (Mark 1:35). If a generation of faithful shepherds is to emerge, serve, and endure, they’ll need to reimagine their schedules and learn to care for their souls.
In light of our age’s pastoral crisis, Croft and Martin challenge pastors to create a plan that encourages their spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. That requires growing in emotional maturity, developing rhythms of rest, and cultivating a vision of biblical friendship. A written plan with external accountability can help pastors enjoy their vocations and unlock a new sense of effectiveness. Most importantly, that effectiveness will flow from union with Christ, companionship with friends, and times of rest.
Ministry will always be hard, but it doesn’t have to be hurried. The Unhurried Pastor encourages pastors to renew their love for their Christ so it overflows into serving their congregations.
The Gospel Coalition