Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/pastoral-burnout-intentional-times-of-reflection/
This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org
Author’s note: This is my sixth and final article in a series dealing with pastoral burnout. Recent Barna research revealed that 33% of ministers had given serious thought to quitting. My own research for a graduate studies project showed 63% of those surveyed had given or were giving serious thought to quitting the ministry. Previous articles provide an overview to challenges ministers face and how key regular rhythms of renewal like silence and solitude, community and abiding prayer help create resiliency.
I like running, but I hate running on a treadmill. My favorite kind of run is on a dirt path through a wooded area. Makes me feel like a kid again. But the absolute worst kind of run is on a treadmill. It just feels like I am not getting anywhere. Sure, the screen tells me how far I’ve run, but I haven’t really gone anywhere. Ministry can feel like that.
It can feel like you are running really hard but not getting anywhere.
In my research on pastoral burnout, one of the challenges many ministers talked about was the lack of clear, identifiable successes. I could relate to their experiences as I too have struggled in ministry to know if what I was doing was actually doing any good.
In one ministry, I took a side job as a bus driver to make a little extra income for my young family. That job became so rewarding because I had a clear way to identify that I was succeeding: getting the kids to school safely and on time. If only, I would bemoan, there was something like that in ministry.
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