{"id":30972,"date":"2022-09-10T15:11:48","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/comfort-for-the-ghosted-pastor\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:11:48","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:11:48","slug":"comfort-for-the-ghosted-pastor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/comfort-for-the-ghosted-pastor\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfort for the Ghosted Pastor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tom Robertson photo – Unsplash<\/div>\n

By Matt Henslee<\/em><\/p>\n

They join your church. You minister to them with the proclamation of God’s Word week in and week out. You pray for them regularly, send them notes on their birthdays, and keep them up to date on all the happenings at church.<\/p>\n

They sit across the desk in your office for counseling. You take them out to eat or for coffee, you visit them in the hospital, and you go to their son’s ballgames. They ask you to officiate their daughter’s wedding and their grandpa’s funeral.<\/p>\n

And poof! They’re gone. <\/em><\/p>\n

In the blink of an eye, it’s as if they disappear from planet Earth. No, they didn’t die or move away; they ghosted you \u2026 and it happens a lot. I shared something along those lines recently on Twitter:<\/p>\n

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To the pastor who made countless visits, numerous counseling sessions, and agreed to do their weddings, funerals, and preached to them faithfully week in and week out, only to have 'em ghost you and go elsewhere…<\/p>\n

Good job. Seriously, good job.<\/p>\n

— Matt Henslee (@mhenslee) July 31, 2021 <\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier that day, I spoke with a pastor friend who found himself in the same situation. I wanted to share the tweet because getting ghosted as a pastor is pretty common, and I thought I’d encourage pastors on Saturday night before they gathered with their flocks on Sunday. <\/p>\n

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The replies rolled in fast and heavy with comments like, “I saw someone in a restaurant last week who passed us like strangers. Our daughter was there and recalled how 10 years ago, I was in the ER all night with her husband as he died unexpectedly.”<\/p>\n

Another said, “Yeah, that’s hard stuff. Tears at you because you really do care about these folks. Regardless, when you stop caring, it’s time to quit.” Another replied, “There’s an apt quote from Terry Wardle: \u2018Ministry is a series of ungrieved losses.\u2019 It really hits home for me.”<\/p>\n

"Ministry is a series of ungrieved losses." \u2014 Terry Wardle Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

It can be especially difficult in the wake of the pandemic when Lifeway Research found pastors were concerned with caring for members from a distance, maintaining congregational unity, and the health and safety of their people, all while dealing with personal exhaustion.<\/p>\n

Even before the pandemic, a 2015 Lifeway Research study of 1,500 pastors revealed: <\/p>\n