Deepak Reju shares his list of 17 things that seminary never taught me.

 1. How to tell a man his wife just died.
 2. How to tell a couple they should not get married.
 3. How to tell a staff member he is fired.
 4. How to tell my wife that I am depressed.
 5. How to tell someone that he or she is foolish.
 6. How to encourage someone who has given up on life.
 7. How to plead with a man to stay with his wife.
 8. How to give comfort to a woman whose husband just left her.
 9. How to comfort a mother who just suffered a miscarriage.
10. How to navigate the IRS tax code for pastors.
11. How to chair an elders’ meeting.
12. How to organize and manage a church budget.
13. How to balance church responsibilities with family life.
14. How to do a wedding and a funeral.
15. How to administer the Lord’s Supper.
16. How to best use technology for the sake of the kingdom.
17. How to shield my kids from the pressures of being a PK.

Actually we did cover a number of these in seminary, but there are some things you just don’t learn in a classroom. Looking over the list, I would say these are quite typical of the things pastors do. I have had to deal with some version of all 17 of these at one point or another in my 22 years of ministry.