Last week LifeWay Research released a study of pastors and how they spend/allocate their time. The results were interesting and encouraging, mostly. There are also, of course, discouraging signs that ought to challenge pastors to be better stewards with their time.

Consider the following statistics from the survey of 1,000+ pastors:

• 65% work 50+ hrs/wk; almost 10% work 70+ hrs/wk
• over half spend between 5-14 hrs/wk on sermon preparation
• 70% spend about 5 hrs/wk in meetings
• over half spend 2-6 hrs/wk in email correspondence
• 48% spend 2-5 hrs/wk in visitation
• at least 45% spend 20+ hrs/wk with their families
• 52% spend 2-5 hrs/wk in personal devotions not related to teaching preparation

Sadly,

• 10% spend less than 9 hrs/wk with their families
• 14% spend an hour or less in personal devotions a week -- and worse, 5% spend no time in prayer at all

The reason why this survey interests me is because I am a pastor by calling. I can see myself in many of these statistics, and I know where scores of my fellow pastors would show up as well.

Without a doubt, a pastor's job is demanding, thankless, solitary and discouraging. It is easy to throw stones at guys who are stuggling in ministry and misuse their time. On the other hand, pastors ought to be challenged by such statistics to make sure they are fulfilling the high calling to which God has called them.

A survey like this drives me to pray for those whom God has called to lead and to serve his people. Join me in prayer for pastors -- and if you get the opportunity, let your pastor know how much you appreciate him and that you recognize his work for Christ. I'm confident that your words will be an encouragement to him, and they might even spur him on to greater ministry ahead.

Entry by Micah Carter

This entry was posted on January 11, 2010 11:01 AM and is filed under Reflections . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.