I was returning from a convention recently and seated next to the late Ramsey Pollard, pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He said to me, “Paul, after 47 years in the ministry, it is harder to be the pastor of a Baptist church now than any time in my ministry.”
The US News & World Report an article entitled “Why Churches Are Worried.” They listed three reasons: Waning attendance, dwindling offerings, and sagging morale. With people and money in short supply there has been a sagging morale in the ministry. The number of men who exit the ministry each year is alarming. In fact, a report some time ago indicated that there are more ordained men who don’t pastor than there are who do. There is no greater honor, no graver responsibility than to be a pastor.