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Lewis Fellows

Churches

6 restorative practices for well-being

wellbeing

Leaders constantly give of themselves to those who serve. How can they recharge? Where can they find restorative practices for ministry that build up our well-being?

Today I’m attending the Lewis Fellows alumni gathering at Wesley Theological Seminary and we are engaging in reflecting and reviewing our role as young leaders in the church. This morning, Dr. Matt Bloom led us pastors in examining our well-being. Dr. Bloom and his team surveyed over 1,000 pastors in 8 different denominations in an attempt to learn:

  1. The characteristics of clergy well-being.
  2. What factors or impede well-being?
  3. How well-being changes over a life-span.

Dr. Bloom presented the following guidance for “recharging” our batteries for well-being:

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Church Leadership, clergy burnout, Leadership

Underestimating staff burnout

You don’t think your staff are stretched thin? Don’t think you are above burning out? Have you checked the health of your organizational staff? Perhaps you underestimate the power of staff burnout in your congregation or organization. It’s real and it can hurt not just your organization, but families.

Recently, a high-profile Baptist pastor in North Carolina became the latest ministry burnout case. Rev. Steve Shoemaker, who leads a 2,200-member Baptist church in Charlotte, entered a 30-day treatment program. In a rather quick move, Shoemaker sent a letter to his congregation outlining his need to step away. He wrote, “I’m physically, psychologically and spiritually depleted and must get help.”

What leads to such powerful emotional wounds?

Pastors and church staff often succumb to burnout. Long hours, high expectations, lower pay, being “on” 24/7, and stress all bring a higher work load to staff. This is often an under reported story in mainstream media, but in 2010 the New York Times wrote a story on clergy burnout. The first two paragraphs were striking and left no room for doubt of the power of burnout:

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Lewis Fellows

Young Clergy Unite

This past week I attended the first gathering of my Lewis Fellows cohort in and around Washington D.C.  I blogged about the whole program and the reasons why the Lewis Center for Church Leadership focuses on young clergy. It was a wonderful experience to connect with other young clergy because there are so few of us.  Also, ministering in Upstate New York, I do not get opportunities like this.  It was extremely affirming to be in a gathering where younger clergy are seen as critical to the present and future Church.

Our sessions were thoughtfully led by experts and leading pastors.  Much of our discussion revolved around leadership, vision, practice of ministry, dealing with conflict, and transforming churches. Not only was the theoretical covered in our meetings, but practical learning.   We visited churches and talked with pastors who were able to transform their churches or in some cases bring a church back from death.

As I participated in the discussion, it was clear that not only do clergy need to understand leadership, but lay people need to understand certain realities of church leadership:  Continue Reading…

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