Its official We are moving

[revks]

Shared the news this morning with both congregations that Lisa and I are moving to south central Iowa.

I still hope to be at Orlin's for maintenance day, but will have to see.

As of July 1st I will be pastoring Lacy, Beacon, and Eddyville Iowa United Methodist Churches.

This move puts us closer to our parents and children as well as the grandkids.

[bongobobny]

That's wonderful news in two ways! Great that you will be closer to family, and great that God has found a need to be filled by you!!

[BigLenny]

Good for you Rev.

 

I gotta ask the question though; how is it that one pastors 3 churches? Or even 2 for that matter? All of the pastors I've ever known, were doing all they could just to take care of and pastor 1 church. With all the needs of the congregation and preparing for sermons and such, their plates always seem to be full. You must be like a pastoring stud to be tackling multiple churches. Lol.

 

Glad you're getting to be closer to your family.

 

Big Lenny

[rpep1982]

Many of the smaller Methodist churches have "part time" pastors when the congregation can't afford to pay the salary for a full time pastor. These "part time" pastors are often given several small congregations to serve. It is a full time job for them and often requires a great deal of driving on Sunday mornings to get to the churches on time and dedication to serving often diverse groups over a wide area. Not to mention visiting the sick, shut-ins and the weddings, funerals and everything else they get to deal with.

 

Good for you Rev.

 

I gotta ask the question though; how is it that one pastors 3 churches? Or even 2 for that matter? All of the pastors I've ever known, were doing all they could just to take care of and pastor 1 church. With all the needs of the congregation and preparing for sermons and such, their plates always seem to be full. You must be like a pastoring stud to be tackling multiple churches. Lol.

 

Glad you're getting to be closer to your family.

[BigLenny]

Many of the smaller Methodist churches have "part time" pastors when the congregation can't afford to pay the salary for a full time pastor. These "part time" pastors are often given several small congregations to serve. It is a full time job for them and often requires a great deal of driving on Sunday mornings to get to the churches on time and dedication to serving often diverse groups over a wide area. Not to mention visiting the sick, shut-ins and the weddings, funerals and everything else they get to deal with.

 

Good for you Rev.

 

I gotta ask the question though; how is it that one pastors 3 churches? Or even 2 for that matter? All of the pastors I've ever known, were doing all they could just to take care of and pastor 1 church. With all the needs of the congregation and preparing for sermons and such, their plates always seem to be full. You must be like a pastoring stud to be tackling multiple churches. Lol.

 

Glad you're getting to be closer to your family.

 

rpep,

 

Thanks for explaining that. I'm not Methodist, so I am un-familiar with that practice. Sure sounds like a noble job, that takes a pastor with a big heart, and a lotta energy.

[bongobobny]

Lenny, it really has little or nothing to do with the denomination! I have known Pastors from independent non-denominational churches do the same thing, especially in rural areas! The point being, there are small churches, as Rev KS pointed out, that just plain can't afford to pay for a full-time pastor, so they do the best that they can! Sometimes they will "share" a Pastor with several local churches, something my old church did so that 4 different churches take turns covering services for another small church or group for the month. We used to do that (and to my knowledge my old church still does) for a county nursing home. The bottom line being one Pastor can indeed cover two or three local churches but it is very time-consuming and needs coordination. It's like church 1 gets a service at 8:00, church 2 gets a 10:00 and church 3 may get a service at noon or maybe 6:00 PM or whatever works! As KS mentioned the real trick is with the special cases such as shut-ins, counseling, etc...

[OrlinEngh]

Great news I know how much the both of you are looking forward to getting back to your family.

We had better get out for dinner and a ride before you move.

Orlin

[revks]

Lenny, it really has little or nothing to do with the denomination! I have known Pastors from independent non-denominational churches do the same thing, especially in rural areas! The point being, there are small churches, as Rev KS pointed out, that just plain can't afford to pay for a full-time pastor, so they do the best that they can! Sometimes they will "share" a Pastor with several local churches, something my old church did so that 4 different churches take turns covering services for another small church or group for the month. We used to do that (and to my knowledge my old church still does) for a county nursing home. The bottom line being one Pastor can indeed cover two or three local churches but it is very time-consuming and needs coordination. It's like church 1 gets a service at 8:00, church 2 gets a 10:00 and church 3 may get a service at noon or maybe 6:00 PM or whatever works! As KS mentioned the real trick is with the special cases such as shut-ins, counseling, etc...

 

This is not new for me other than it will be full time pay. I currently serve two churches full time and previously served three at a part-time salary while driving a school bus to make ends meet and for insurance.

The local Catholic priest serves 3 churches, and the Baptist pastor is considered a missionary so is supported by other churches.

On the plus side the charge I am currently at began in the 1880's as 1 pastor serving 39 churches on a circuit. 3 weeks on the road then 1 day at home to rest before off again on horseback.

[revks]

Great news I know how much the both of you are looking forward to getting back to your family.

We had better get out for dinner and a ride before you move.

Orlin

 

The Spyder should be ready to go at the dealer, and I had the Venture out twice last week.

just need that groundhog to get his stuff straight.

[BigLenny]

This is not new for me other than it will be full time pay. I currently serve two churches full time and previously served three at a part-time salary while driving a school bus to make ends meet and for insurance.

The local Catholic priest serves 3 churches, and the Baptist pastor is considered a missionary so is supported by other churches.

On the plus side the charge I am currently at began in the 1880's as 1 pastor serving 39 churches on a circuit. 3 weeks on the road then 1 day at home to rest before off again on horseback.

 

Holy Cow revks!

 

I am learning a lot through this thread. I had no idea there were so many folks still doing the multiple church and circuit pastoring jobs. I was raised and attended for 29 years a non denominational church where our pastor not only founded the church, but then stayed in that position for the first 20 years after he founded it until he passed away, then the next pastor took it over, and he stayed in that role for another 30 years until here recently when he retired due to health complications. After i spent my first 29 years at my birth church, I then moved over to a church where the pastor had been in place for about 5 years, and I stayed there for 16 years, and that same pastor was there the whole time, and is still there.

I guess my naivety is due to me living in a metropolitan area my whole life where there are a large number of good sized churches with full time pastors serving each church. I had always heard of circuit pastors and such in the country, but I was thinking that had for the most part been long ago history. A few years ago, I was researching my family history on my fathers side, and I found out my great great grandfather was a circuit pastor in an area just south of Huntsville Alabama. As a matter of fact, in 2012, my wife and i took a 2 week motorcycle vacation out east, and found his and my great great grandmothers graves beside one of the main churches he pastored. He lived in the 1800's, so I guess thats what bolstered my thinking that that practice was in the past.

 

I admire you revks. This nation needs more men like you.

 

BL