Where is the the joy in ministry?  So many people who don’t enjoy being a full time pastor.  I really don’t understand.  I have times when I am down, but I can’t see doing anything else.  God created me to be a Pastor it is a part of who I am.  Notice it is not who I am, who I am is a child of God. 
I don’t think it has had a negative effect on my family.  I hope I never get to a place where that is true. 
As for how many hours I put in a week.  I required to put 50 in and I put 60 hrs in consistantly.
In Christ

Wow, what a question. I am not a pastor (YET), but as an associate minister in our church, I put in on an average 25+ hours a week. I teach a men’s class on Monday nights, bible class on Wednesday nights. not counting meeting and preparing for Sunday morning/evening services.  But you know what? I LOVE IT. I WAS BORN FOR IT AND GOD HAS CALLED ME TO IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah the stats are fifteen years old… I am sure they are much worse now considering how overall most stats you read reflect that most people in America work more and feel more stressed than ever before. I would guess that these numbers haven’t changed much and if anything things have gotten worse in some areas for pastors (as they have for many people)...working longer hours is commonplace today!

We all work too much in my opinion. And when I don’t work I think about work which constitutes working. Any one else identify?

I lose track of how much time I work. That’s probably not a good thing! The needs are real and the temptations are always there to try to “please” folks but I am trying to keep “pleasing” God instead. I am more humbled now than ever and appreciate other pastors even more. I have a “no dissing” policy on other pastors. Melt downs happen every once in a while for me but I keep running back to God and He refills me. Lack of boundaries drive me a little crazy sometimes. Folks can be really needy.

I’m a youth guy, me and my wife do about 168 hours a week!

Not really, but while the overall responsibility is less, time may be more in the Youth Ministry

Great comment Rick.  I try to keep my time to 50-55 hours a week (this doesn’t mean that I don’t have occasional seasons where I work more).  I try to keep to this target because I want to model a healthy lifestyle for our congregation. This still gives me plenty of time for my own devotional time and my relationship with my wife and kids. I figure if the regular guy works forty hours a week, attends church on Sunday, serves in a ministry and attends a small group he’s probably at 50-55 hours. If I’m killing myself at 70-80 hours a week and ingnoring my family, I have no moral authority to challenge the man who is doing the same thing climbing the corporate ladder.

I agree with Rick’s post above.  Having been in the business world for 25 years I put in 50-80 hours per week in various positions.  Then I spent time teaching a Sunday school class, serving on church boards, or going to church activities.  The people in our churches are also spending to much time and are stressed out just like the staff.  As a Sr. pastor I am trying to get everyone to look at what we do and it’s value.  I think all of us need to slow down long enough to hear God and try to spend our time on things that further His kingdom.

As an addendum to my previous post, I have to say that the 50 or so hours I put in are those where I am in my office or doing other “direct” ministry related activities.  I don’t count small group involvement (even if I were leading it) or off the cuff “counseling over a cup of coffee” meetings. These are things any semi-dedicated church member would do.

Before I went into full-time ministry I worked long hours and weeks and it was part of the job or part of attempting to climb the ladder of success, feed and clothe my family etc. It was much easier, even after a 60-70 hour work week and another 8-10 hours of church related volunteer activities, to turn off the brain and enjoy a ball game, movie or going out to dinner with my wife.

Ministry is a differnet thing altogether.  You live with the sense that anytime now the phone will ring and you will be thrust into a difficult counseling situation, the death of a member of the congregation or something else.  You can’t compare secular employment with ministry in that regard.  In a subtle sense we are on call 24/7 and it behooves us to make sure we take time out to rest and enjoy recreation.

I always get a kick out of those who work in the secular industry and suggest that just because they put in long hours pastors shouldn’t be complaining or playing the martyr, or even thinking that their work is different.  Talk to anyone who left secular employment for full-time ministry and they will tell you there is no comparison.

Having learned my lesson about working outlandishly long hours (40-60/wk) and going to seminary this past year, I have begun to hold myself accountable to a small inner circle that I will cap what I am doing work wise to 40 hours (I’m on pastoral staff, to be ordained in less than 2 years upon seminary grad). 

For me, in retrospect, much of the “work” that I was doing was laced with an unrecognized need for approval and validation by others outside of myself.  The challenge with this destructive “worm” is that it bores its way in and through the very fiber of your identity and being. The hamster wheel ministry experience of spinning and never moving forward only placating others was the most instant joy and passion killer I experienced.  It took me less than a year to see how damaging the results were already starting to be in my life; lack of time with friends (I’m single), lower grades (who had time to complete papers when I had x,y and z left to do at work?), weight gain (we won’t even go there...) and my relationship with someone ended before it had an opportunity to really begin (he couldn’t/wouldn’t allow himself to be relegated to a couple of hours a week...after all a relationship is about intimacy - can’t have that with only emails.)

I think, in my very limited experience in ministry to this point is that it is our understanding of boundaries which help create a more healthy lifestyle.  I’m certainly not going to be the one saying that all Pastors put in a straight 40 and that’s it...I’ve been around ministry long enough now to see how much work we “take home.” But at the same time I wonder if everything we are trying to do is really necessary for the kingdom or is it just goals we would like to accomplish for our own validation?

Old habits die hard however, I begin my first official pastoral call (children and family ministry) this next week.  There’s a list of “things” that I would like to see happen for this ministry already in hand.  My lecture to myself is already being reviewed.

I tent-make in addition to my (stipended) pastoral position and have been working 50-70 hours/week for a couple years. Most people I know in “secular” jobs put in 45-50 hours plus 10-15 at church. I don’t think 70 hours/week is healthy for anyone, but I think 55-60 (including worship and small group) is a reasonable expectation. I’ve observed plenty of pastors who count every minute they spend with anyone at church or reading anything church-related as work time. It’s easy to convince yourself you are working much more than you are.

A good exercise is to keep track for a week of what you are doing once each hour all day long and see where your time is going. It gives you a consciousness about your time and a better picture of how you spend your work time (as well as forcing you to consider what is work and what isn’t).