I can tell you from experience that is not the case.

I'm currently on staff as an associate minister so my experience will be different than an executive, but actual pulpit ministry is perhaps 5% or less of what I spend my time on. The rest is event/group planning, visitation and care, music (I play multiple instruments and help plan, not in charge of this though), student ministry (read: more event planning - this is actually harder!), strategy and advertising, prayer groups, etc. I fill in and do whatever needs to be done, and there is so much to do. And all of our staff have similar 'wear many hats' positions. Other friends I've talked to in similar positions have the same deal going: unless you're the executive of a moderate-to-large sized church, preaching is actually a small percentage of what you do.

Having the congregation step up and do some of that would be a dream come true, but I also feel like it would be sort of a 'why do we pay you' kind of thing if I'm not busting my tail to make everything run smoothly. Perhaps we as a ministry staff do a poor job of casting vision for that type of church.

It's a shame, too - I love preaching more than anything in the world, and it is most certainly my gift.