Since the release of Pagan Christianity in 2008, George Barna and I have received countless emails from expastors saying, “Reading your book only confirmed what I already knew about my role as pastor. I had a crisis of conscience and left my position, but I have no employable skills. All I know how to do is preach and write. What do I do to feed my family?”
Others have written, “Your book confirmed what my wife and I knew deep down in our hearts for many years, but I am afraid. My security is tied up in my position. I want out, but I’m struggling with how I can make ends meet when I leave my salary as pastor?”
When it comes to pastors leaving the clergy, I have no dog in the fight.
It doesn’t matter to me if every pastor in America remains in their position. Nor does it matter to me if they all leave. My heart is to see those called of the Lord to fulfill God’s calling on their lives, whatever that means for them.
But what we’re discovering is that many who are called to serve the Lord presumed that this meant they were supposed to be modern-day pastors.
With 1,500 to 2,000 pastors leaving the clergy system every month in the USA, many of these men and women have since discovered that being called to serve God doesn’t automatically equal being a contemporary pastor.
And after examining the contemporary office of local pastor against the New Testament and church history, countless pastors are coming to the conclusion that the present form of the office isn’t even biblical.
That said, a team of expastors have put together a document called AN EX-PASTORS SURVIVAL GUIDE. The survival guide is a short document that lists a number of viable jobs that expastors have taken. And it gives specific guidance on how to secure them.
Beyond the financial/career advice it gives, the survival guide also provides free resources to help pastors in some of the key areas of their lives.
To receive a free copy of the Ex-Pastors Survival Guide, just send an email to expastorsguide@gmail.com and you will receive it at no charge.