Pastors in Lutheran churches just don't work on Sundays so having a side job isn't always going to be feasible.
Not ALWAYS, I agree.... But sometimes.... oft times.... it is.
HALF of the parishes of the LCMS worship less than 133 per Sunday. A lot of them worship less than half that. True - the amount of time preparing the sermon is the same regardless of the parish size, but the rest of the pastors work is largely determined by the size of the church.
IMO, we need to re-examine what is strictly the responsibility of ORDAINED CLERGY, not permitt4ed for lay members. Lamm, in my former Catholic parish, we worshiped 600 every weekend in 5 worship services (1 on Saturday, 3 English on Sunday, 1 Spanish on Sunday). We had a K-8 school of about 500 students. Lots of funerals and weddings. We had ONE pastor. That's it. I doubt he worked 80 hours a week. BUT he had NO administrative responsibilities (we had lay folks to do that), we had Euchristic Ministers and a large group of trained lay "care givers" who generally made the hospital and shut in calls, lay folks taught the Communion, Confirmation and Adult Confirmation (RCIA) classes. Our priest was strictly "Word and Sacrament" - he lead the Mass, he administered the Sacraments, he did counseling IF it was strictly a religious issue (I had appointments with my priest as a kid!) OR was specifically requested, but the office tried to direct folks to one of the lay specially trained counselors. e The priest SUPERVISES teaching and ministry, but he directly serves pretty much only where the administration of the Sacraments is involved... not even always preaching the sermon. IMO, especially in small Lutheran churches, pastors do a LOT of stuff that the laity could do - very likely better. Pastors have ZERO training in administration or education, certainly ZERO in secretarial and janitorial and gardening skills, and maybe 2 courses in counseling. In my parish, the pastor attends EVERYTHING.... and is expected to be a leader and expert in everything. When we are painting, he is there painting.... etc., etc., etc. IMO, if the laity stepped up more - we'd need less time from our clergy and the church would likely be better served? IMO, we could take a lesson from the Catholics. We may HAVE to (checked the enrollment at our two seminaries lately?).
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