You Weren't Hired to Run a Church

I’m sitting in the airport lounge putting the final touches on this article as I get ready to fly home after three days with a church that’s starting to make a big shift—one I wish every church in America would consider.

They’re not just tweaking programs.
They’re rethinking roles.
And they’re realizing something most pastors know deep down but rarely say out loud:

They weren’t called to run an organization.
They were called to care for people.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped trusting that was enough.

The Long Drift Into Misalignment 

No one told us it would go like this.

That the role we stepped into with prayer and trembling would slowly mutate into a job description that reads more like a nonprofit executive than a shepherd.

That our days would be filled with staff meetings, spreadsheets, repair estimates, policy manuals, and a dozen fires that have nothing to do with our calling.

I didn’t sign up to manage a machine.
But most days, that’s what it feels like.

And I’ve met hundreds of pastors who carry the same fatigue.
Not because they’re lazy.
But because they’re doing a job they were never gifted to do.

A Better Model We’ve Ignored 

I’ve started giving churches a new picture.

Not a metaphor.
A model.

Imagine the church as a hospital.

There are patients in pain.
Specialists trained to serve.
Administrators who keep the systems running.

And there are doctors—people called and gifted to walk with the sick, to diagnose what’s broken, to be present at the bedside.

Now imagine if we asked those doctors to run the whole hospital.

Fix the HVAC.
Negotiate the contracts.
Plan the fundraising events.
Design the signage.
Manage the supply chain.

And—on top of that—be available for surgery, consults, and family grief visits at all hours.

That hospital would collapse.
And the people who needed care? They’d suffer the most.

That’s the model we’ve handed pastors.

And then we wonder why they’re exhausted, disconnected, and silently falling apart behind the scenes.

You Were Never Meant to Be Everything

We’ve got a system problem, not a pastor problem.

We’ve built churches where the people gifted to shepherd are drowning in logistics.

We’ve made equipping the saints optional and managing the calendar essential.

And pastors everywhere are carrying the weight of a structure that doesn’t match their gifting.

It’s not just poor design.
It’s spiritual malpractice.

Because when the people who were called to care are too busy running operations, the church loses the very thing it needs most: presence.

And Before You Say “But I’m the Only One…”

Let me stop you.

This isn’t just a big-church problem.
It’s a belief problem.

Even in a small church, you don’t have to be everything.
You weren’t meant to be.

You’ve got people in your pews who’ve been waiting for you to stop doing it all and finally ask them to play a part.

But if all they’ve ever seen is you carrying everything alone, they won’t believe there’s space for them.

You say there’s no one else?
Maybe you’ve stopped looking.
You say the church is too small?
Maybe the mission is too big for that excuse.

And If You’re on a Staff Team? You’ve Got Even Less Excuse.

Your youth pastor shouldn’t be running every detail of the youth program.

Your worship leader shouldn’t be setting up chairs, designing slides, organizing rehearsals, and prepping every holiday service like a solo artist.

If they were hired to pastor, let them pastor.

If they weren’t, stop calling them pastors.

Titles don’t mean much if the function doesn’t match the gifting.

And Ephesians 4 didn’t say “Do the work.”
It said “Equip the saints to do the work.”

You can’t equip anyone if your hands are full of everything else.

I Stopped Running the Church and Hiring My Way Out of Every Problem

At the church I’ve pastored for over 30 years, I don’t oversee the building.
I don’t manage the budget.
I don’t lead every meeting.

But here’s the key: I didn’t just hire my way out of the chaos.

I equipped people.

Some were already in the church.
Some didn’t have experience—but they had availability and a willingness to grow.

We didn’t go talent shopping.
We got serious about development.

Because the truth is, the church has been addicted to hiring expertise for far too long.

We chase the next specialist.
We stack staff to meet every need.
And we quietly send a message to our people:
You’re not needed. We’ve got this covered.

No wonder they stay on the sidelines.

If you’re going to hire, make it a coach—someone who releases people’s potential, not someone who runs the plays for them.

Because churches don’t need more staff.
They need more shepherds.

Equipping Isn’t Optional. It’s Your Calling.

What if we stopped filling job descriptions—and started calling out giftings?

What if we saw Sunday pew-sitters as untapped leaders, not passive consumers?

What if we believed that the people in our care are part of God’s provision—not problems to manage?

When I stopped trying to hire solutions and started training people, everything changed.

I wasn’t carrying it alone anymore.
And they weren’t spectating anymore.

They had ownership.
They had purpose.
And I got to pastor again.

You Don’t Have to Burn Out to Be Faithful

You weren’t gifted to grind.
You weren’t called to collapse.
You were created to care.

And the church was never meant to leave you holding that calling alone.

You can’t fix it all tomorrow.
But you can start today.

Stop doing all the work.
Stop hiring to avoid the real work.
Start equipping the people God’s already put in your care.
And get back to pastoring again. ◼︎

You don’t have to figure this out on your own.

Here’s how we can walk with you:

→ Take the Free Ministry Survival Assessment
→ Join a 6-Month Cohort
→ Find a Certified TAP Coach
→ Schedule a Free 30-Minute Call
→ Bring TAP Consulting to Your Church 

Tim Eldred has spent over 35 years in pastoral ministry and coaches pastors and churches who are ready to move beyond merely surviving. He founded The Authentic Pastor to help ministry leaders find freedom from the pressures and systems that wear them down.