As long as your celebate and not gay, I don’t see the problem.
In my experience, never-married men are very underrepresented in churches.
You know, a lot of people are hung up the “husband of one wife thing” but it never seems to apply to never married only divorced men. It seems to me everyone is hung up on something but Jesus was the only one “Hung Up” on a cross.
I was told by a Pastor friend of mine that years ago Pentecostal churches strongly suggested marriage to their ordained Pastors, because the feeling was that if you were married, you wouldn’t fall into a sinful relationship with any female members of the congregation.
Just tell them that your a widow by choice.
I think the single girls like the idea.
I personally know of one who landed the handsome single pastor. They now have three kids and I firmly believe are very much in love. She had been the director of music but I don’t think she has done that anymore. She does sing specials sometimes and has a pro voice.
Being Catholic, I don’t care if a Pastor of a Protestant church is single or not. And I don’t think being single means you can’t relate to certain people or situations, and I don’t believe being single makes you more likely to be a child molester as many perverts marry just to cover up their true self.
But I do have an Aunt that says her church prefers their Pastors to be married because usually the spouse takes a big role in the church and organizes church groups, teaches Sunday school, etc. She even says years ago their Pastor wasn’t so great but his wife was wonderful and held bake sales for the church where she baked everything herself and she was a professional pastry chef. Hey, whatever fills the pews!!
The true issue is not if your status is single or married, it’s all about HOW you live it.
The true issue is not if your status is single or married, it’s all about HOW you live it.
And sometimes when the New Testament is speaking about the concern for someone of a particular status, and where they might be “tempted” in that status, the problem is not what they may do TO SOMEONE ELSE if so tempted, it’s about the danger to their own soul for accepting an erroneous behavior out of that temptation.
In terms of single or married, the risk of being tempted to err lies within the person, not their status; for clearly some may come to be more tempted to err if single and others if married.
G-d KNOWS everyone is unique in their own person-hood.
So again I repeat: The true issue is not if your status is single or married, it’s all about HOW you live it.
One of the qualifications for a pastor is that he rules his own house well, and has his children in hand (I Timothy 3:4).
Only way this *should* happen is if he is married or widowered. Otherwise, he’s a fornicator of some type, and not qualified for the ministry any more.
Really, it doesn’t get any simpler than that. It really doesn’t *matter* what “1500 years of church history” says about it - that is completely irrelevant. The Bible is what matters, not the erroneous practice of a lot of people who weren’t spiritually discerning.
A friend of mine was a Baptist minister and when his wife died they let him go. It was very sad. Imagine losing your wife and your pastorate.
So Catholics want you to not be married and Protestants want you to be married?
I am a single 50 year old male and have been divorced for 20 years. My ex had an affair and it ended in divorce. Unfortunately, I feel very uncomfortable going to church as a single man my age. I am a Christian and, unfortunately, I am not attending church right now. I sort of feel dysfunctional not being married and having the average 2.2 kids.
The marriage thing is sort of funny. Peter is considered by Catholics to be their first pope. Peter was married but they don’t allow their priest to be married. If it was okay with Jesus, I believe it should be okay with the Catholic church. Unfortunately, doctrine created by men and what is Biblical is oftened blurred.
I can understand concerns some folks would have about a single pastor. Every church has families that have marital issues. A lot of the married men may feel uncomfortable with their wives meeting a single man. That’s not me but just a reality. I know the Rev. Billy Graham went to great lengths not to be put in uncomfortable predicaments with women.
I feel the need for a good church too and I don’t think I’d have any issues with you being my pastor.
I really do hope you find a church that is great for you.
I want a pastor who is humble before God, and desires to be true to the word of God with all his heart.
I do not want a pastor who has it in his head to do something, and so reworks the word of God to justify his desires. It’s an attitude problem that will lead to big trouble at some point.
If you are a good preacher and communicator, any church that hears you will forget their preference for a married preacher. Paul told Timothy not to let people tell him he was too young to preach. Well, we can’t control what others think or say, but we have the option of keeping our eyes on Christ, doing what he leads us to do, and doing it with all our might. So, ask for the opportunity to deliver a sermon, and to be chosen based on your preaching abilities, not marital status.
Why are you ‘looking for a job’?
You are experienced; you are ordained.
If you feed them, the flock will come.
Or is pastoring now ‘just a job’?
Jesus was a carpenter, so I can imagine his advice would be (assuming you do have a call from the Lord), “if you can’t find a pulpit to fill, BUILD one! I will supply the wood and nails; you supply the labor.”
Baptist “husband of one wife” ping!!!
“Almost all pastors were single until the time of the Reformation”
From which Divinity School did you get your degree?
Until the Reformation, there were no Protestants, Evangelical or otherwise.
Until the Reformation, there were no Pastors, only Priests.