Reports showing sustained increases in food and home prices alongside a cooling labor market highlight a continuing challenge for churches.

That information impacts everything from attaining goods for ministries like food pantries to hiring new staff. Inflation sits in the middle of it all and while it remains high, the rate is decreasing.

In addition, wage increases can also impact a church’s ability to hire support staff. When your local fast food restaurant  and other places raise their wages, churches must follow suit to attract candidates for custodial services or setup teams. That can lead to a ripple effect of rising pay for roles such as ministry assistants to keep pace. 

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Don Hannel thought he was going to be the pastor of Pleasant Hill Church in Illinois the rest of his life. He’d been there 19 years. 

But when his wife was hired as principal of Brown County Elementary School, about 50 minutes away, they began to learn about a new part of their region.

That led Don to investigate what church life was like there. God used what he learned to change his ministry post. Don discovered a need, then started a Bible study and it wasn’t long before a new New Vision Community Church was planted and he became the pastor.

“I had a kind of a holy discontent of beginning to feel like maybe God was doing something different in my life, as well,” he said. “It was a hard decision in my heart, because I know a piece of my heart is always going to be in Pleasant Hill at the church. But God began to transplant my heart for the people of Brown County. And that’s when we knew that God was calling us to start a work right there.”

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Church leader Chuck Lawless encourages us to be patient with one another. In a piece at Baptist Press he offers seven reasons. Here’s a couple:

First, Jesus was patient with His disciples. This is a model for us.

Second, people are often dealing with stresses they haven’t shared with you.

Read the full piece from Lawless at Baptist Press.

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