Your Pastor May Be Burned Out: Warning Signs
“When I do church consulting, I often encounter pastors who are just worn out… I usually learn that the battle had been ongoing long before I arrived to consult. Indeed, some of the following signs seem to be recurrent among wearying shepherds.” - Chuck Lawless
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I've been persuaded that a lot of the members of my church are getting worn out, probably including myself to a degree, and a lot of these work for ordinary church members, too.
I think the key issue at hand, then, is to ask the questions of why a leader, or member, is wearing out, and then to think of things to do that will alleviate the stress. Sometimes, it's unavoidable--members have difficulties and the pastor really ought to be there--and sometimes, it seems to proceed from an overload of "programs" that counter-intuitively work against ministry. And so the pastor--and the pastor's wife--are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to hold it all together, and the down time and thinking time is just not there.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
I remember asking a fellow pastor how things were going with his ministry, and he replied, "I feel like I'm spending all my time running around putting out fires." When that's the case, something is terribly wrong. But how to "fix it" can be quite the challenge. I've got my own ideas, but that would take more time than I can afford at the moment. (Maybe because I've got a "fire" to go put out. :)
G. N. Barkman
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