A Defense against Pastoral Burnout

Plurality of shepherds in a local congregation is the model of leadership we find in the New Testament church, which is a model first established in the Old Testament. Just as Jethro made it clear to Moses that solo leadership was “not good” then, so it is not good now. Jethro’s reasons are just as pertinent today as they were then. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (Exodus 18:18). Without a plurality of shepherds, both the pastor and the people suffer and do not experience the best the Lord has for us. Certainly there are times when solo leadership is the only option, but it should be viewed as temporary and men should be intentionally discipled toward leadership qualification, roles, and responsibilities.

Our elders recently read Timothy Witmer’s exceptional book, The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church, and spent many hours discussing its implementation recommendations at an all-day elders’ retreat. We are really excited about the intentional shared-shepherding strategy we are embarking upon.

Since pastoral burnout is a widespread problem in the Western church, as well as a current topic of discussion among many, I thought I’d pass on the following portion from Team leadership, as Witmer makes clear, is one practical defense against pastoral burnout.

One of the practical outcomes of the identification of those who give themselves to preaching and teaching is that these individuals have often become viewed as primus inter pares—first among equals. This may have practical benefits in terms of providing initiative and direction in the local church. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the biblical picture of leadership is ‘team’ leadership. All elders, including teaching elders (pastors), are called to shepherd the flock, but not all elders have the gift of teaching, though they should be apt to teach.    Continue at Paul Tautges

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Seven Warning Signs of a Leader’s Fall

Simon Peter is one of my favorite Bible characters. He is so real . . . so human. He was the leader of the apostles, named first in the lists of the disciples in the New Testament. Still, though, he fell in a dramatic way (Luke 22:31-62).

The story of Peter’s fall is filled with warning signs for today’s leaders. Though these signs don’t always happen in a linear fashion, each one should cause us to slow down and evaluate our lives.

1. Being overconfident – Jesus told Peter the Enemy would sift him, but Peter strongly affirmed his commitment to go to prison or to death for Jesus. Surely Peter meant those words, as evidenced by his later willingness to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Within hours, though, he would deny knowing Jesus. Peter was overconfident and didn’t know it – and that’s the danger of overconfidence. Believing “it won’t happen to me” is a huge warning sign.
2. Suffering emotional and physical fatigue – The disciples were to watch and pray in the garden, but instead they slept. The emotional fatigue of mounting opposition to Jesus had taken a toll. Exhaustion increased their vulnerability to the Enemy’s arrows. Under the wearying strain of a leader’s responsibilities, we, too, sometimes let our guard down.  Carrying too many burdens and getting too little rest can lead to serious consequences.
3. Failing to pray – “Pray,” Jesus commanded the disciples in the garden. Even if they wanted to, still sleep came easier than prayer. The problem here is simple: prayerlessness reflects self-dependence rather than dependence on God. Anytime we’re not praying, we are susceptible to a fall. In fact, prayerlessness usually correlates to acting first and following God second – as Peter did when he first defended Jesus with a sword.
4. Growing distanced from Jesus – Peter followed Jesus after His arrest from a distance. That distance was obviously geographical, but his heart would quickly grow distant from Jesus, too. His actions soon to come would make that point. He who had stood with Jesus and said he would die for Him wouldn’t stand for Him when challenged. Our distance from Jesus may be marked more by less Bible reading and fewer prayers than public denials, but any distance can set us up for a fall.   Continue at Chuck Lawless

What is Going on with the Pastors in America?

Here are some startling statistics on pastors; FASICLD (Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development). This quest started in 1989 as a Fuller Institute project that was picked up by FASICLD in 1998. 

After over 18 years of researching pastoral trends and many of us being a pastor, we have found (this data is backed up by other studies) that pastors are in a dangerous occupation! We are perhaps the single most stressful and frustrating working profession, more than medical doctors, lawyers, politicians or cat groomers (hey they have claws). We found that over 70% of pastors are so stressed out and burned out that they regularly consider leaving the ministry (I only feel that way on Mondays). Thirty-five to forty percent of pastors actually do leave the ministry, most after only five years. On a personal note, out of the 12 senior pastors that I have served under directly, two have passed away, and four have left the ministry totally—that is, not only are they no longer in the pulpit, but they no longer even attend a church. And, I run into ex-pastors on a regular basis at conferences and speaking engagements; makes me wonder “what’s up with that,” as my kids would say. 

From our recent research we did to retest our data, 1050 pastors were surveyed from two pastor’s conferences held in Orange County and Pasadena, Ca—416 in 2005, and 634 in 2006 (I conducted a similar study for the Fuller Institute in the late 80s with a much greater sampling).

• Of the one thousand fifty (1,050 or 100%) pastors we surveyed, every one of them had a close associate or seminary buddy who had left the ministry because of burnout, conflict in their church, or from a moral failure.   Keep Reading...
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Depression and the Ministry, Part 2: Occupational Hazards

Depression and the Ministry, Part 1: The Setup 

Paul Tripp made a compelling case for the prevalence of depression in the pastoral culture. In continuing the conversation, my focus will be on answering the questions, “What is depression? What are the unique challenges common to pastors that might contribute to depression being an “occupational liability”?”

A Common Scenario

Pastor Bill and his wife, Lisa, had a growing church and a good marriage, but something was wrong. For more than six months Bill felt tired much of the time. He found himself snapping at his kids and growing more distant from his loving wife. His sermon preparation was arduous. He had lost the passion in the pulpit he once had. He was beginning to dread Sundays, because he had to face his flock and deliver a message. He stopped doing the things he loved—riding his bike with a friend and even playing golf. He was eating more and exercising less.

Bill had lost his first wife years before, but had handled the loss amazingly well. He continued to preach and serve others with only a short period of grieving. Two years later he remarried a godly woman who had been friends with his wife. Other than his recent struggle with “motivation,” Bill and his new wife and family were doing great. Now his wife and the elders were concerned with what appeared to be burnout. Was he having some type of mid-life crisis, was he in a spiritual slump, or did he have a physical issue going on that was sapping his energy? Bill couldn’t figure it out. He was spiritually dry, could not concentrate in prayer, and woke up many nights with anxiety. He came to counseling wondering what was going on and just wanted life to go back to normal. Keep Reading...

Why Preachers Fall