Staff Maintenance vs. Lawn Maintenance

Mark Weible posed this scenario – “If you were on a church leadership team and had to prioritize spending cuts, which would you cut: seminary trained pastoral staff or lawn and maintenance services? I am aware of lots of churches that are laying off “professional” ministers. Lawn and building services seem to be a higher priority. Why? Couldn’t these services be provided by volunteers? Evidently not, it seems that lawn and building maintenance requires the work of highly trained technicians. Ministerial services do not require as much training and can more easily be handled by volunteers. Do you find that to be the case where you are?”

Here’s my response:

This is a prime example of why we need to be prepared to enter the mainstream marketplace. Those of you who know me well know that I have been encouraging people for years to gain “marketable skills.” For example, I’ve always thought it was crazy and wasteful to get an undergrad degree in religion and a Master’s degree from a seminary. Talk about cutting yourself off from the world! If we all were prepared to have jobs like the rest of the world we are trying to reach, this dilemma would not be facing us. Like Jack Allen said, it’s not our fault these “professional” ministers haven’t taken the time to learn marketable skills. The question is if I were in his situation, but my goal is to never be in this situation. My friend Sean Benesh feels the same way. I think we are seeing more and more every day that marketplace ministers is who we are looking for here in Orlando. If I were indeed faced with this decision, I’d have to cut some of the staff.

Now, am I saying we don’t need to pay staff?  No!  I think it’s fine to compensate ministers for the work they put in.  However, I think we should all be prepared for something like this to happen, especially with the current state of our economy.