In the August issue of The Baptist Paper, BGAV Edition, the theme on the cover is titled, “Avoiding Burnout.” It refers to an article on the mental health of ministers written by Lindsey Williams. Mental health is an important topic in our time. Mental health struggles are nondiscriminatory. Even ministers, who shepherd and care for others, struggle with mental health. I am thankful for good mentors in seminary and throughout my ministry who have helped me stay engaged in pastoral counseling. This has been life-giving and has helped me to stay the course for over 26 years of pastoral ministry. I thought this article would equip us to be mindful of the wellness of the entire staff here at HRBC: to encourage, to pray, and to have some grace in these times of budget shortfalls, change, transition and the reality of fewer volunteers and limited resources. As we navigate the shifting sands of another controversial election season in a post-covid world, we need your love, understanding and empathy. As we said Sunday, we interlock our “shields of faith” as we face the future! The remainder of this week’s article is an excerpt from the aforementioned article by Lindsey Williams. 

Preston Crowe is a pastoral counselor and director of the Center for Hope and Healing in Madison Mississippi. He asks, “What does Christian counseling look like for the minister?” “Pastors,” said Crowe, “and anyone in ministry, have some of the loneliest jobs, in terms of the freedom to be open or real about their struggles. It’s tough when your friends are within the church; you don’t want to play favorites, nor are you always comfortable sharing things with people inside of the church. Yet a minister’s friends outside of his or her church are often fellow pastors and ministers, and even in that regard, sometimes there is a tension because they feel like they have to put on a face even around them.” 

Neil Marsh, Executive Pastor of Ministry at Broadmoor Church, Madison, and a licensed psychologist in the state of Mississippi, formerly worked with the VA System (the Department of Veterans Affairs) and in the MS Department of Mental Health. “My journey with mental health,” shared Marsh, “has been not only professional but personal, as I’ve gone through different seasons where I have seen my personal counselor sometimes weekly, sometimes every month or every couple of months. It is a practice that I maintain to be as healthy as possible. I urge our staff to do the same, and we revolve our conversations around how we can not only be healthy ministers but also healthy human beings and followers of Jesus. So for me, the practice of counseling has been really, really important.” 

Marsh acknowledged that, depending on their life story, some ministers may feel reluctance toward personal counseling, but in many cases, pastors and ministers just do not have access to that service. “They may live in a small community where they are the counselor for others, and they may not know how to personally pursue that opportunity where they are at, and not only counseling but just good healthy friendships where biblical community can occur for a pastor. Typically, pastors and ministers provide opportunities for others to have community, but for ourselves we may not create opportunities for friendships, or seek counseling at the moment of crisis.” 

Signs of Burnout Crowe encouraged congregations to be aware of the mental health of their ministers. Some signs of burnout he included are: 

• Apathy: When a minister loses motivation toward topics or activities he was once passionate about. This may be a church-related topic or even an activity at home. 
• Avoidance: When a minister seeks to be out of the office as much as possible or finds ways to not attend certain meetings or fulfill tasks he normally would do. 
• Unusual Anger: When a minister carries a stress which flares up through quick flashes of anger not normal to his character. 
• Daydreaming Other Options: When a minister wonders, “Is there another church or another job outside of the church that I could do?” Crowe assured that the thought is common for ministers facing burnout. 
• Decision Fatigue: When a minister makes decisions in isolation without running it through proper channels, growing tired of the system and acting on his or her own. 
• Distraction: When a minister seems constantly unfocused amid the work going on around them. 

“One way that we can help anybody in ministry is for churches to take this seriously and understand that pastors and ministers, at the end of the day, are human. They are going to face many of the same things that the people in the congregation face. They are going to have family struggles just like others have. They are going to potentially have bouts of depression or struggle with anxiety, and there may even be a biological or chemical side to some of these things that they have never addressed . . . 

“ . . . So it’s important for church bodies to realize, ‘Yes, he or she is God’s appointed person to shepherd this particular flock, and there are certain roles and responsibilities which go along with that, but [they are] also human [with] human struggles just like everyone else.’” 

How Congregations Can Help 

• Allow ministers to have struggles. Expect struggles to come, and don’t assume they can handle it on their own. 
• Consider setting aside, as many churches are beginning to incorporate, some funds for counseling and/or spiritual coaching as a part of the church’s care of your pastor. 
• Encourage your ministers to use their ministry leave/vacation time. 

“It really is a way of saying to your pastor, ‘If you go through a hard time, we would rather join you and walk alongside you through offering counseling, so that you can stay as healthy as possible, than for you to battle this alone and quit,’” said Crowe. 

In Christ’s care and service,