Dec 2, 2021 | Burnout, Calling, Difficult people, discouragement, Leadership, Longevity, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Quitting
Pastors are on the move. In its most recent study, Barna discovered 38% of pastors have seriously considered quitting full-time ministry this year. This percentage is up 9 full points (from 29%) since Barna asked church leaders this same question at the beginning of...
Nov 29, 2021 | Calling, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Podcast, Team Building
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.” 1 Timothy 3:1. Pastoring has become increasingly complex. Churchgoers expect their pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks! If we lead without a clear set of...
Nov 18, 2021 | Confusion, Disappointment, discouragement, Doubt, Grief, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Resilience
God is good . . . but we’re not exempt. This thought has been running through my mind all week. Our interim pastor taught on Psalm 73 this past Sunday. The psalm tells the story of Asaph; a psalm writer, worship leader, and lover of God. In Psalm 73, Asaph revealed a...
Nov 11, 2021 | Difficult people, Disappointment, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, People Leaving, Relationships
When people leave the church you pastor, God often mourns—and so should you—at least for a while. As a young pastor, the worst days in my life were when people I cared about decided to leave. But now I understand those didn’t have to be my worst days. When people...
Nov 9, 2021 | Anxiety, Burnout, Depression, Emotional Health, Exhaustion, Leadership, Mental Health, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Podcast
When you love what you do for a living—when work doesn’t feel like work because of your passion for it—you’re at more risk than most of falling into the workaholic treadmill. Pastors, missionaries, and all sorts of ministry leaders (business leaders) are susceptible...
Nov 4, 2021 | Alignment, Burnout, Emotional Health, Exhaustion, Fatigue, Leadership, Longevity, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Rhythms
A Barna 2017 Study of 14,000 Protestant Lead Pastors in U.S. revealed that 37% of lead pastors are at medium to high risk of burnout. That percentage has grown even higher in the past two years. Here’s the thing about burnout – getting healed up is not like flipping a...
