6 Burnout Lessons for Ministry Leaders

After talking to countless ministry leaders who are about to fizzle out ... and experiencing burnout myself half a decade or so ago, I am passionate about health in the ranks of church leadership.  So I really savored consulting psychologist Steve Bagi's perspective on this always pressing issue.

Based on his own burnout experience and recently posted at the ministry blog Serving Strong, here are the six lessons that turned his life upside down. 

I'm thinking there's probably a take-home or two for any who are in non-stop, full-throttle mode as they serve Christ and others.

Steve writes:

Lesson One: Burnout was worse than I expected. I call it a “stew of pain” with ...so many different emotions and thoughts swirling around and bubbling to the surface over a very long period of time.

Lesson Two: Burnout took longer to recover from than I had thought. I was out of action for one whole year. That is a long time to be watching day time TV and wearing pjs all day. However, considering that it took me over twenty years to get there, it was never going to be a quick and easy way out.

Lesson Three: Burnout cost a lot more than I had bargained for. The amount of emotional pressure that I placed on my wife and children was considerable. No wonder my sweet wife also went through something similar after I had started to work again. Then, there is the dollar value of being out of action for so long and perhaps working through the possibility of having to change occupations.

Lesson Four: Many churches and church leadership groups do not know what to do with a pastor who is burning out and churches are reluctant to talk about this growing problem and take on their share of the responsibility.

Lesson Five: Burnout doesn’t have to be the end of the road. Although many times I felt that I would never get back up, God, my family, friends, counselling and medication has really helped me to work through it. Although I am no longer in pastoral ministry, I am even more passionate about serving Jesus and sharing the gospel. I have found it easier to talk to people who aren’t Christians, as being someone who has “crashed” makes me more human and vulnerable.

Lesson Six: The growing world-wide problem of pastoral burnout is a symptom of an unhealthy way of “doing church” with regards to the attractional model under which most churches are structured and the role and expectations placed on the “PASTOR and their family”.

What choices do you have to make TODAY to keep from becoming a statistic?

Linda

*** Be pro-active!  More on preventing and treating burnout here ...

- sign photo by Kris Van de Sande -