PTL - God handled the problem in my friend's church.
The pastor resigned last night.
Said he feels called to the mission field.
Now the members at this little church in Tennessee can start looking for a new shepherd.
God answers prayer! :godisgood:
It's a blessing that each church only requires one pastor.
I am sure the church will be careful when they interview candidates to specify what type of pastoral style would best fill their needs and a pastor who agrees with the constitution or is willing to openly suggest changes using proper channels.
They do not hide that there are issues in their church.
But hopefully a new pastor would work with them to resolve issues instead of creating more issues.
I pray God will lead a wise, discerning, Godly pastor there who seeks what is best for the people in the church.
Not a "yes-man" but a true leader.
Whomever you choose, you better make sure of a few things:
1) God wants him there.
2) The goals and plans of the church are the same as the pastoral candidate.
In the SBC, the average length of service for a pastor is 18 months.
They found out that the main problem was that the goals, ideas, plans and vision of the church did not match that of the pastor.
And vice versa.
I mean, if a pastor wants to introduce contemporary worship, but most of the people want trad. hymns, then there is going to be friction.
Maybe the local church wants to support local missions, but the pastor wants to dump all the mission budget into China---there is going to be a problem.
OP, please pray about this and I hope my advice is of some use to you.
Some pastors understand their calling and would accept the challenge to do what God has brought before them, while others would run the other way desiring instead to be handed a gold platter.
Our last pastor was at our church 8 years, and Bro. Kevin has been here over 10 years, our music minister father retired a few years ago, and he had pastored for over 20 years in the same sbc church.