Gimme’ a Break!

My father-in-law was a pastor. For several years, his congregation was small. And so was his paycheck. Small enough that it eventually caused him to pursue chaplaincy in the Air Force. Which he did until he retired.

Well, sort of. He later managed to find ways to still serve in some pastoral role working in a church or retirement community. It seemed he loved having a role in the church.

An important benefit of being a military chaplain is vacation. Unlike most churches—small, medium, or large—you were given 30 days of “leave” each year! You could even bank some of that. You might work on holidays but get compensating time off.

Plus, you got a regular paycheck! Your employer—the U.S. Government—was quite faithful in getting it to you! When you received promotions, your benefits increased! And there were lots of benefits from Air Force life.

You never had to plead with a congregation for more giving. You didn’t have to worry about staff support. They might even let you use government transportation. If you attended conferences, the government paid your expenses. Not a bad gig, eh?

Also, generally speaking, it didn’t matter if your “congregation” liked or approved of your preaching. First, many of your “congregants” would be transferred. Or at some point, you would be. Many chapel attendees chose the Base Chapel as a convenience more than a “home church.”

You did need to learn to accept—tolerate—other faith traditions that were assigned to the same duty station. At the Base Chapel where my father-in-law served, there were three or four other chaplains of different faith backgrounds.

When the Catholic chaplain led services, curtains up front would allow for the empty cross to be moved aside until hidden. Then, the crucifix would be displayed. How clever!

If my father-in-law were still a Chaplain today, I wonder how he would be dealing with AI…?  Allie Beth Stuckey recently penned her thoughts how ministry leaders are using AI for sermon prep! She believes it’s “destroying the church.”

She comments,

“Pastors relying on AI-generated sermons are outsourcing spiritual growth, biblical study, and discipleship to machines.”

Hmmm. Temptation finds its way even into the pews.

Allie Beth cited recent research reporting “that while only 1 in 10 pastors (12%) were comfortable using AI to write sermons, 2 in 5 (43%) believed it was OK to use AI to research and prepare for a sermon.”

Maybe this results in better sermons!

Ms. Stuckey does NOT like where this is headed. Says she,

“Spiritual maturity is not going to happen through telling ChatGPT, ‘Write me a three-part sermon on gratitude,’ and then reading that off to the congregation.”

What say you? Is that “cheating the system?” We know college kids—even high schoolers—are using ChatGPT (or similar AI) for their non-creative endeavors. We might even start calling it CHEAT-GPT.

Most pastors of small to medium size congregations prepare and deliver sermons almost every week. Sometimes more than one. That’s heavy duty work!

Our Chicago area church has a good approach. Along with several Sundays where another speaker will give the message, our pastor takes the entire month of July “off.” Well, not quite.

He uses that time to creatively develop themes and messages for the coming year—with God’s guidance. He gets energized by this process! Even excited! The congregation benefits as well by hearing fresh voices and ministry approaches.

Another important way to keep ministry leaders—especially pastors—fresh is by periodic sabbaticals. These extended breaks can range from a few weeks to a few months. It allows for deeper study and input from academic sources on various trends in the church.

Did Jesus need ministry breaks? Most certainly. Mark 6:30-32 records,

“The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, He said to them, ‘Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (NIV)

Friends…take the lead in supporting your pastor. Don’t wait for your stressed out leader to come and say, “Hey…gimme’ a break!”