Feb 22, 2018 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Rest, Stress, Trust, Uncategorized, Workaholism
I am fed up. According to an extensive Barna research study of 14,000 U.S. lead pastors, published in January 2017, 37% of lead pastors are at medium to high risk of burnout. 43% are at medium to high relational risk with their spouses. A whopping 66% say they have...
Feb 15, 2018 | Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Fear, friendship, Leadership, Loneliness, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Pastor's Spouse, Relationships, Uncategorized
Several months ago, Laura and I taught at a church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For those of you who are not Michiganders, our state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas are connected by the five-mile long Mackinac Bridge. If you don’t like bridges,...
Jan 11, 2018 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Fatigue, friendship, Leadership, Loneliness, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Pastor's Spouse, People Leaving, People-pleasing, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Uncategorized
In last week’s blog we looked at 5 Common Stressors Pastors Face: Difficulty separating from work Wear and tear of spiritual warfare Societal dysfunction Raising/maintaining church budget Sensitivity Today I’d like to offer some practical ways pastors can address...
Jan 4, 2018 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Depression, discouragement, Emotional Health, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, People Leaving, Stress, Uncategorized
It’s 2018! Every New Year’s Day for me brings with it a sense of a fresh start, rekindled hope, and renewed faith. I think most pastors anticipate the new year with optimism, and hold the sincere belief that the year ahead will be even better than the one they’ve just...
Nov 16, 2017 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Family, Fatigue, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Productivity, Rest, Stress, Uncategorized, Work, Workaholism
If you ask twenty people how many hours per week is reasonable for a leader to work, you’d probably get twenty different answers. Researchers from the business world have proven time and again that once you hit forty-five hours in a week, productivity (for most...
Oct 5, 2017 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Fear, Leadership, Rest, Workaholism
The term workaholism was coined in 1971 by minister and psychologist Wayne Oates, who described workaholism as “the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly.” For decades, the North American business culture has been marked by bleary-eyed workers who...
