In an article for Mikros, a newsletter for pastors of smaller churches, Glenn Damon writes, “Small church pastors can become relationally isolated from the congregation because of their position within the church. Small church pastors often isolate themselves from the congregation because of pride and their fear of people seeing their faults. Within the small church the pastor’s everyday life is highly visible to the whole congregation. Furthermore, pastors neither are perfect, nor are they free from succumbing to temptation. When the pastor stumbles, not only do people know about it, but it can become the talk of the whole congregation. Within the congregation there always will be those who are ready to condemn the pastor for the slightest mistake. People can develop unrealistic expectations regarding the pastor…
“Pastors also can become isolated by the congregation. In smaller communities, the small church pastor often is considered an outsider. It is not that they do not love their pastor; they often do. However, the pastor often does not share the same cultural perspective (for each community has its own culture). The pastor may not understand the history and the heritage. Because of the turnover of pastors within small churches, the congregation views the pastor as a short-term leader, who will soon be moving on to a bigger church. Consequently, they keep the pastor at arm’s length and have no desire to develop any close relationship with him.”