Being a Single Pastor

Over at the Gospel Coalition Steve DeWitt has written a very helpful article on the blessings and battles of being a single pastor. He is writing in a context where the overwhelming majority of churches lean towards having a married pastor and to be a single pastor of a church can be viewed as being odd or abnormal. DeWitt has this to say about the benefits of being a single pastor:

But we must...recognize that a pastor’s singleness is equally valuable in different ways [to a married pastor]. Speaking from experience, singleness has its own anvil on which God shapes character and pastoral gravitas. In addition, single pastors have some tremendous gifts to share with their congregations. When I speak of my loneliness, how many hearts leap with hope identifying with my trial? When my voice quivers as I describe life lived with unmet and unfulfilled expectations, what heart can’t hear the echo? A normal red-blooded, sexual, single, Christian man battling all the normal desires yet pursing contentment in Christ is a living sermon that Jesus alone is sufficient. These strengths, combined with the greater energy and time that single pastors can pour into their churches, should lead us to conclude that singleness ought not be viewed as a negative. If Paul was serving on the search committee, I think he’d argue for it as a positive.

You can read his whole article by clicking here.