MEMOIR WRITING
My Life as a Pastor’s Child
The Good and Bad Side
Growing up as a Pastor’s child in a Nigerian home has its ups and downs, from waking up early on Sundays even though it is difficult, to staying long after the service ends. Going to church every Tuesday and Thursday of the week for weekly activities while also going to every single event our church has, to hear my Dad preach almost every Sunday. That’s my life as a Pastor’s child.
The truth of being a Pastor’s child goes past what you find in church every Sunday morning. Albeit the greater part of us show up exceptionally dressed, wearing our commended suits, ties hitched, shoes sparkling, berets looking banging, and dresses looking flawless, there’s still a lot we go through inside.
From my personal experience, I can literally say that being a Pastor’s child or ‘Omo Pastor' ( Pastor’s child) as we are mostly called has its advantages, however, we as a whole realize that most beneficial things have a clouded side to them too.
As far as I might be concerned, these are some of the great benefits I have experienced as being a pastor’s child:
- As a Pastor’s child, I got the opportunity to have a Godly foundation. My parents taught me the way of the Lord from my early stages. They showed me through their life how to live, love, and serve Christ and His children. I grew into early morning devotion, worker’s prayer meetings, weekly services, annual programmes, and Sunday School activities. I took part in many memory verse challenges in church, from Draw Your Sword to children’s camp and so many other church activities.
- As a Pastor’s child, I get unsolicited blessings from people. Sometimes i get blessings I never asked for from people. People are quick to want to help a pastor’s child and they tend to treat me slightly differently from others. I recall while growing up, I attended a children’s camp at church, the child laborers from our zone would frequently treat me uniquely and ensure I was well-fed and taken care of.
- Being a Pastor’s child has helped me in developing my gifts. Growing up in a Christian home and a Pastor’s family is one of the greatest opportunities I’m privileged to have experienced. Going to church every Sunday morning and listening to hymns naturally drew me to music and singing as a whole. I hope to join the choir someday.
There are a still couple of different advantages I would have wanted to list, yet I would rather not lengthen this post more than necessary.
In each good side, there’s generally a bad side, let’s take a gander at the bad side of being a Pastor’s child.
- Too Many Expectations from People.
I have to answer to my parents, the church, the congregation, and the general public at large. Pleasing every one of them is a massive task, I mean you can’t satisfy everybody.
“Try not to wear this, Don’t wear that, don’t behave that way, you didn’t greet me well, you didn’t come to Bible study, don’t you realize you are a Pastor’s child? You are too rude!”
2. Pastor’s kids face the challenge of living up to the good boy/girl tag: As a Pastor’s child, I can relate to this. Eyes are always on you as a Pastor’s child, to always never go wrong. No mistake is expected of you. In school, you’re supposed to be different from all other kids and not play much, joke around with friends, or fail to submit assignments on time.
3. Pressure: Growing up, there was always this "pressure" that goes with you being the son of a Pastor. Even when faced with physical opposition like guys who wanna beat 'you' up, people think that you should not fight but just meekly get beaten and mauled so badly. The Bible says when hit we should turn the other cheek right?
4. The children of Pastors are often compared to their parents: Everywhere you go as a Pastor’s child, you always get the reminder that there’s a standard you ought to live up to. And that standard in the eyes of people is always your dad or mom who are ministers. Every little thing you do is a chance for them to say, "You’re just like your dad" or if you make a little mistake, "You should be like your dad or mom". They always expect perfection from you.
In conclusion, there are a whole lot of things that go into being a Pastor’s child, nonetheless, I feel like the good sides still outweigh the negative side.
Omo, see ehn, Being a Pastor’s child is certainly not a joking story! In case you know any Pastor’s child give him/her an embrace when next you meet.
Editor’s Note: This piece was originally self-published by the author on 29th June 2022 (pre-dating the existence of this publication) and therefore does not come up as the latest published story in MuserScribe.
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