What Pastors' Kids Wish You Knew

[@knightoriole1]

PK here. Church on vacation! Going to church was my dad’s joy, not his job. I give this advice to pastors of young kids every time. We don’t vacation from church. Sermon illustrations. Yup. I’m still in some of his manuscripts that I read. I never felt pressure but I don’t know how my dad did it. I did catch as a PK my dad’s being was wrapped up intimately with the people of the church. I caught how he genuinely loves. I caught how much he enjoys being with his brothers and sisters.

[@TheAshley9697]

Pastors kid here. Difficult relationship with my role 😂 my pawpaw started the church and my dad took it over when I was 14. So I know nothing but being in a pastors family. I ended up marrying a preacher 🫣🫣😂 and in the future I feel like he’ll pastor, so then I’ll be a pastors wife 🤦🏽‍♀️ I can’t get away from it 😂 Lord help! Being in this position has had its ups and downs and pressure beyond belief but at the end of the day, if God wants me to be in this position then that’s what matters. Pleasing him is more important.

[@leanagonzalez467]

I think it would also be interesting to speak to PKs with different experiences. Some of us had a harder time and it’s important to walk through these conversations also.

[@thebakdrop]

💯 absolutely. Same here

[@TheAshley9697]

Same. mine is still tough at times

[@lydsa9662]

Yes!!! PK and MK. I have walked through this very difficult journey and continue to. Sometimes it’s quite a bit later in life when we realize we have to work through the stuff. In college I was the smiley happy go lucky on the outside kid, and people would tell me, you’re not like the troubled Mk/pks. But believe me, as I got older, stuff came out and I realized how much stuff I had to work through and continue to. Would love to engage and hear conversations about the challenges. Let’s not christianese things and make things unrelatable and sugar coat things. We have to talk about the difficult things. There are hurting ministers’ kids out there and they need to be heard, not brushed over.

[@sarahball-ruck846]

Both my sons are pastors & now dad's so this topic got my attention. Will pass this on to them. As an aside, I grew up a "private school teacher's kid" [K-12 Christian College Prep School], so the "expectations" & "fish-bowl" rang as very famillar. That said, believe my Dad saw teaching as a ministry... even after 40 years teaching he still whistled on his way to work.

[@manichairdo9265]

My pastor and his wife did things differently. They didn't want their children's lives to be monitored by us church folk, so they were kept away. Nor were they ever seen as the pastor's kids. Each became Christians when they left home. The idea being that if it's not happening in the home, it isn't happening anywhere.

[@thebakdrop]

I’d love to hear more. Did they not teach them the word?

[@manichairdo9265]

@thebakdrop They lived it. Aware that children need to make their own decision to follow the Lord. Our church doesn't depend on the pastor's teaching. Anyone of us can share or teach. It's our own relationship with God we seek. Then, we bring whatever He has shown us. One of the verses that is close to our hearts is - where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We do minister to each other in any way needed. We have counsellors, and our pastor is there for us 24/7. Do we have problems? Yes, but we have to work together to sort out issues out. Sometimes, he's like a referee. Lol. We're blessed.

[@sarahball-ruck846]

Pastor's kids glorious privledge... "swiming in the means of grace"