In high school I attempted the Bronze Medallion lifesaving award. The final test was a long-distance swim requiring different strokes. I was lagging at the back of the pack with a classmate when something went wrong. Instead of my classmate swimming forward, he started swimming in circles. Instead of staying above water, he was sinking. He was meant to be a lifesaver, but he was about to drown.
For Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin, this is the current state of pastors. We who were trained for the care of souls are burning out at an alarming rate. We who were meant to be lifesavers are struggling to stay afloat.
The Problem
Herein lies the issue Martin and Croft are narrowing in on in The Unhurried Pastor. We try to “shepherd like superheroes—but the problem is that there’s nothing superhuman about us” (19). Pastors have forgotten we are human creatures made for God and by God. In other words, we have forgotten our creaturely limitations; humans are sinful, broken and limited. We forget this whenever we try to be pastors in ways that go beyond what we are made for. We work too hard and don’t rest. We are impatient and can’t wait. We are too busy and never stop.
The Unhurried Pastor: Redefining Productivity for a More Sustainable Ministry
Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin
The Unhurried Pastor: Redefining Productivity for a More Sustainable Ministry
Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin
Ronnie Martin and Brian Croft have each spent decades pastoring churches and supporting ministry leaders. Here they encourage fellow shepherds to embrace a more present-focused, unhurried approach to ministry. They show how this starts with accepting their humanity, pursuing humility and remembering the hope they have in Christ. They also exhort pastors to fuel their ministry with self-awareness, prayer and contemplation of Jesus.
After giving a framework for this approach to ministry, the authors offer lots of practical advice regarding prioritisation, managing schedules and cultivating supportive friendships.
In the US this had led to 42% of pastors considering quitting in the last year, 50% not making it to five years, and 80% not lasting 10 years (10). My guess is the statistics might be similar in Australia. In my own city of Perth, some pastors are hanging up the ministry boots. It’s not because our training got weaker or our theological education became less rigorous. Our training ecosystem in Perth is probably as strong as it has ever been. And yet according to Croft & Martin there’s something in the water. Something is happening. Our relationship with the pastoral vocation seems to have the success rate of a Honda Jazz hatchback on a 4WD track. If you were looking for a potential road map to get out of this mess, then this is what The Unhurried Pastor is trying to provide.
Addressing The Too Hurried Pastor
Martin and Croft unpack the problem in three sections: preparation, power and pursuit.
Firstly, in our attitude or preparation toward pastoring, we can view ourselves as a “relentless doer rather than a receiver” (36). But we’re not just pastors, we’re people made by God and for God. A humble pastor is first a humble creature made by God who hopes in Jesus.
The second section pushes into the pastor’s heart to point us to where true power comes from. “Admitting your limitations is part of what it looks like to be a humble pastor” (66) who can rely on our Father’s power and sufficiency. We need self-awareness to know what we can’t do and how sin uniquely affects us. We need contemplation—not to overthink—but to be attuned to God. We need to pray because it is an expression of faith in our God who does all things (102).
The final section, Pursuit, ends with the practices and behaviours we need to sustain these changes. Martin and Croft discuss self-care, rest, silence, emotions, and friendship. This is where the book really slows down. I started to read, not as a reviewer with a plane landing in less than an hour, but as a Christian pastor who is tempted to go too fast and work beyond my capacities. Reading this section made me wonder how much modern technology has shaped us for the worse. Why do we need these kinds of books now and not a hundred years ago? Having just finished Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, I wonder if our unhealthy use of modern technology and social media has changed us in ways we don’t yet realise.[1]
Questioning The Unhurried Pastor
Even with its timely helpfulness, Croft and Martin are addressing a specific hurried, sinking to-the-bottom, CEO-like pastor. My guess is cultural and historical reasons mean this kind of pastor is more common in the United States than Australia.
Consequently, The Unhurried Pastor should not be treated as summative. Although the pastoral job should be unhurried in some ways, it is also hurried! The grace of God made Paul work harder than anyone else (1 Cor 15:10). He worked night and day to not be a burden (1 Thess 2:9). He only lives if the Thessalonians continue to believe in the Lord (1 Thess 3:8). His life is being poured out for others (Phil 2:17–18; 2 Tim 4:6). Doesn’t that sound frantic? Isn’t that unhealthy? Isn’t that a bad work-life balance? Paul sounds hurried. He sounds lop-sided. He sounds unbalanced. Who wants to live like this?
But pastors do, because Christians do. That’s what we all signed up for. When there are lost to be won and the flock to be grown, we work tirelessly so that they make it to the end (Col 1:28–29). That means far more than our comfort and work-life balance. No doubt ministry, like the Christian life, is a marathon and not a sprint. But we are called to sacrifice, even when that is slowly and steadily over a lifetime of pastoral work. With eternity coming, life was never meant to be a walk on Cottesloe beach with gelato in hand watching the sun setting over the Indian Ocean. We are meant to be unhurried in some ways, but in other ways, we are meant to be very hurried.
The Secure Pastor
Perhaps a more apt description would have been “The Secure Pastor”. A pastor who is secure in Jesus will be unhurried and hurried at the same time.
We can work hard because we are motivated by grace not insecurity. We can seek feedback and advice because we know we can always improve. We can work overtime, not in an effort to prove ourselves, but for the sake of others. We can stay up late to finish that sermon because we know God works through human efforts and human instruments, not because he can’t do the job without us. We won’t be rocked to the core when something goes wrong and we won’t ooze confidence when something goes right. We can happily come under others and know our need for coaches, supervisors, denominations, and mentors. We can rejoice in sending and training because the kingdom is bigger than us. We don’t look for recognition but are satisfied by God’s well done. We can apologise. We can admit wrongs. We can rest. We will sleep. We will take days off. We will enjoy holidays. We won’t always be “online”. We know that we are not just pastors, but we are first children of our Heavenly Father.
I recognise Croft and Martin want to address a specific problem in their context. To that end, The Unhurried Pastor is a fantastic resource, and would also prove useful for theological students beginning pastoral roles. For others, we need to know that our security in the grace of Jesus makes us more resilient, more motivated, and more hurried pastors.
[1] Haidt’s thesis is post-2012 we can see remarkable changes in our behaviour. In particular, we experience four fundamental harms: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, addiction, and attention fragmentation.
