Why Should Pastors Stay? A Panel on Joyful Endurance

The Gospel Coalition hosted a breakout panel titled, “Faithful Endurance: The Joy of Shepherding People for a Lifetime” with H. B. Charles, Dave Harvey, Richard Phillips, Jeff Robinson, and Juan Sanchez at the 2019 National Conference to address the present trend of short stays in pastoral roles within churches.Knowing that the average length of tenure for an evangelical pastor is slightly less than three years, it is no surprise that instability plagues our churches, which is neither healthy for the congregation nor the pastor. The panel discussed the value of faithful pastors who dedicate their lives to single congregations for decades at a time and the formative process through which faithfulness to a single congregation builds godly character into pastors and their churches.