7 Ways to Identify An Overlooked and Valuable Resource Within Your Church

Many, if not most, churches are constantly looking for qualified, competent, caring, and committed people to help do the work of their ministry. Many, if not most, of these churches have at least one such person hiding in plain sight in their pews at every worship service.

Fifteen-hundred to nearly seventeen-hundred pastors leave the ministry each month. The Hartford Institute for Religious Research estimates there are roughly 350,000 congregations in the United States. Fifth grade division and fourth grade multiplication lead us to the following conclusion: if pastors have been leaving ministry at that rate for just the last 20 years there would be an average of 1 expastor available for every congregation in the country.

I’ve been that guy for almost 5 years now. And I continue to marvel at how difficult it has been to find a new ministry role in the two churches I have attended since leaving the pastorate (by choice, not scandal) after 22 years of preaching, teaching, counseling, and sacrifice. A role that would utilize my gifts and calling, which are without repentance. At 52, I believe I have a few more years of useful service to render in a church context; just not as the head guy. And I see many areas of obvious need in my current church’s ministry where I could help, but have been rebuffed or simply ignored at every offer.

I’m not an ogre. I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and use deodorant every Sunday morning (and the other days of the week, too). I smile, I worship, I give. And then I sigh, and go out to eat with my family. I don’t believe this is a unique experience. I’m convinced it’s a systemic issue that plagues many larger congregations. And I think it’s a shame that the glaring solution might be to attend a smaller church where it would be impossible to hide in plain sight.

So, I’ve made my own “deal with the devil” and decided to remain hidden in plain sight at a church where the word challenges me and the worship invites me into the presence of God. And I have begun to develop ways to fulfill the still rich call on my life by doing ministry outside of my church. I’ve launched a program to heal families and help people who have been rejected, abandoned, forsaken, or abused by a parent, and am contemplating a bible study to teach the basics of the faith to the un-churched and de-churched.

This decade has given us an economy where many have had to retrain and accept positions that underutilize their talents, experiences, and skills in order to make ends meet. Former managers and leaders are now waiting tables or processing phone orders. Doctors from other countries are now driving cabs or working at 7-11. And at church some expastors, like myself, are serving on the parking lot ministry (I’ve done that), or ushering, or running the soundboard or presentation software (I almost did that). To be clear, I am not disparaging any of those ministries. As an example, what I am saying is that when a now defunct small-groups ministry in a church of thousands needs leadership to refocus and re-launch it, that expastor’s gifts and experiences could be better utilized to help in that area of the ministry.

If I could speak to pastors of medium to large sized churches who have untapped clergy resources in their pews I’d offer these 7 suggestions on how to identify and integrate those resources into their ministries.

LOOK. If you’ve prayed for leadership help, or if people in your ministry have been praying for help for you, then expect that God has answered or is answering that prayer and LOOK for the answer. Many times we want the answer to hit us over the head and announce itself, but God often moves more subtly than that and slips the answer right under our nose. There’s a good chance the help you need is hiding in plain sight right there in front of you on Sunday mornings. Like Hagar with the well in Genesis 21 and Abraham with the ram in Genesis 22, your provision may have been there all along and is just waiting to be noticed.