Twenty-five years ago, it was impossible to think that most people, in their right mind, would consider the option of avoiding full-time employment in a professional position as a pastoral staff member. When an individual reached that point in their ministerial career, they had finally obtained what others were longing for, an opportunity to do ministry in the capacity God had ordained them to do; they were thrilled.

Unbeknownst to many of these newly established full-time leaders, they were quietly and secretly engaging in an unspoken social contract with those who voted them into their ministerial roles.