Torch, Fall 1983

"W hat' You expect me to work on Sundays. too? Why, I work si x clays a week already. I need a day off'"' Such is the complaint heard by countless pastors in the ir never-ending quest for people to carry on the work of the Lord in the local church. The demand is always the re: board members , teachers , workers with children and youth , club leaders , mus icians , nursery workers , ushe rs. and committee members. On and on the list goes , jobs to be done. needs to be met, and people to be served . As God prospers the mini stry and the church grows in membership , the need for workers multiplies. Every pastor prays , " Lord . give me men and women committed to Your service. I can't do the work alone. Lo rd , lay the burden on the hearts of my people to have a hand in the work of God. Lead me to the right people for the job. " T hi s right person. thi s ideal worker every pastor dreams of, does he exist') Is he some sort of spiritual giant. a combination of the Apostle Paul , the Apostle Pe ter, and the Apostle John , with a bit of Stephen , Ba rnabus , and Philip thrown in for good measuire? Should he be abl e to walk on water and tread softly over broken g lass ? Would he have skin tough as armor , yet be sensitive to the slightest nuance of people ' s needs'? Mu st he be an aggressive leader , but submissive to those around him') Works by Rev. Lawrence Fetzer Every congregation has within it two "camps": 1rnrkers and watchers. The problem comes when the 111atchers outnumber the workers. The ministry then hecomes sluggish and ineffective , for the few can no longer bear the burden of the many. The challenge of the pastor is then to move more people from the watcher camp to the worker camp . A time-honored principle will help accomplish this end. The principle: only one major job per person . Set it ur as a basic principle of operation while the church is still small and stick to it even if it means curtailing the program . You can never build an effective program on overworked, over extended personnel . You do yourself no favor by overwhelming your willing workers with mu ltiple responsibilities . Never, never allow the church to rob its workers of time with the family and time to be a neighbor. How will we ever reach our children if we keep Mom and Dad so busy that they become virtual strangers to their own kids '7 How will we ever reach our community if our people are too busy at church? One reason why our people shirk the work is because they fear the burden. In some of our .churches the burden of the work may well be unreasonable. Surely God is not pleased when we pull our people"away frOin a balanced home life and an effective influence in their own neighborhoods .