Having been in ministry for thirty-four years and 24.5 have of those as a lead pastor, I have often experienced times of stress, and anxiety; I even came close to burnout once. The ministry is not for “the faint of heart.” In those tough times, I learned to lean into my calling and to lean upon the Lord and His faithfulness. In times of stress and depleted resources, however, our body retreats unto a fight or flight mode. If this flight or fight response continues week after week, month after month, you will eventually burnout.
Archibald Hart said, “Pastors tend to become overly involved emotionally, overextend themselves, and then feel overwhelmed by the emotional demands imposed on them by others.” Sadly Hart is right; the statistics often confirm his statement. 80% of pastors believe that ministry has negatively affected their families (Life Enrichment Ministries 1998). According to a Barna 2002 report, 25% of pastors don’t know where to go for help if they have a personal or family conflict. In one of his newsletters in 1998, James Dobson said, “Our survey indicates that 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses are discouraged or depressed.”
As a pastor I often found myself like the speaker in Solomon 1:6 (NLT) “ . . . My brothers were angry with me; they forced me to care for their vineyards, so I couldn’t care for myself-my own vineyard.” All of us in ministry need a soul care plan. We often take care of our physical bodies but what about our souls? Proverbs 4:23 (NAS) says, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”
This coming Tuesday, October 5, 2021, Dr. Gerald McGinnis, a longterm pastor from Park West, Knoxville, Tennessee, will be sharing via a webinar on soul care at 8:00 p.m. You will not want to miss this. Dr. McGinnis is one of the best on soul care that I have ever heard. The link will be emailed to you next Monday for you to join our “Pastoral Matters” webinar. I will be looking forward to seeing you.