When Pastoring Gets Boring (No, Really!)

In my early years of full-time ministry I would sometimes sit in my little church office and wonder “what should I do today?” Yes, that seems like an entire lifetime ago. I was bored? In pastoral ministry? It’s hard to imagine that, now.

In this article, which first appeared on X (there’s a link to it at the end), Eric Hoke, the I Help Pastors Get Jobs Guy, talks about a conversation he had with a bored pastor, then he gives us some alternative ways of looking at it.

—Karl Vaters

“I am just getting bored and want to see what else is out there.”

These are the exact words I heard from a pastor recently.

He wasn’t prayerfully seeking his next role. He wasn’t in talks with his wife about what God may have for their family. He didn’t speak to a friend, an elder, or other staff.

He was just . . . bored. I have heard this more than once.

I think lots of pastors are finally out of the crisis mode that was the last three years (as of the time Eric wrote this), and just feel “meh, I am ready for something new. I am tired of the rinse-and-repeat on Sunday sermons, board meetings, disgruntled deacons, and never having enough kids workers to volunteer in the nursery.”

This is a bad idea and let me tell you why.

The Top Reason Is This:

If you’re a pastor, you have more freedom and flexibility in your schedule than you most likely ever will in a marketplace role. Read that line twice.

To just “go out and pound the pavement cuz I’m curious” is a waste of time and can put you in a tailspin of self doubt faster than you can say “résumé rewrite.”

An Alternative

Why not use your boredom as space to innovate within your church?

• Start a new ministry?
• Disciple that new believer?
• Home in on your preaching craft?
• Or maybe just go on a retreat for a few days?

If I was bored in my day job, I would use that space to create new services, products, streams of impact, or just go have lunch with someone.

The opportunities are endless.

Unfortunately, I have to carve space in my day to be bored.

Any parents of young kids can relate?

The Second Reason Is This

Job seeking is soul sucking.

On more than one occasion, I have had highly successful pastors tell me their “confidence is shattered” and they’re “questioning major life decisions” and feel like “no one wants me!” after the job seeking reality sets in.

The reason for this (in my opinion) is that as a pastor, we’re at an advantage for people liking us. Even if we lead smaller congregations, we still are respected by proxy of our vocation.

When you hit the marketplace economy, you’ll find that people are not as impressed by your ability to parse Greek, preach a dynamite sermon, or plan a fun and impactful mission trip.

Not to make fun of those things (other than Greek, like get a life), but job seeking is humbling! And to go out and look for a new job because you’re bored is like saying you want to get punched by Mike Tyson in his prime because you just want to see how hard he hits. Hard pass for me.

With that said, start job seeking when you’re ready to start job seeking and if you’re bored, find something to do or even just get a hobby.

Because job seeking is a pretty lousy hobby.

(Photo by Thijs Paanakker | Flickr)