Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 109
TRANSCRIPT
The last few years have been tough on everyone in the body of Christ, but they have been especially tough on our pastors. In this podcast I want to try and bring some encouragement to our brothers and sisters in ministry.
This is Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations, and I welcome you into this unusual Hope Healing and Freedom podcast. I want to encourage you to send this to the pastors in your life in hopes that it will bless and encourage them in the battles they must fight on a daily basis. Cindi and I have both been pastors and we understand some of what pastors have to deal with. We also know that most pastors are on an island with no one to go to for help.
I am bringing this podcast hopefully speaking to two groups of people. The first group are those of you who are pastors. You have one of the hardest jobs I know of and we at RTF understand the pressure you are under, and we want to help you. The second group I am talking to today are those of you who have a pastor. I want to help you understand some of what your pastors go through in order to lead the church.
My first pastorate was in a church of about 175 people. This was 40 years ago, but at the time I was making $22,000 a year trying to raise three children. Being the pastor of a church of 175 meant you had 175 bosses. 175 people who I felt like I needed to keep happy with the decisions I made. 175 people, who felt like because I worked for their church, and they paid my salary I should be available to them 24/7 365 days a year. It is not unusual for a pastor to get a phone call from a couple who have been having marital problems for years, but because they were having one of their regular knock-down drag out fights they call the pastor at 11:00 pm and expect them to immediately come to their house. Even though the problems they were having didn’t start that night, and the problems were not going to be solved that night, they still expected the pastor to jump when they called.
Pastor burnout is a very real thing affecting the body of Christ. These men and women are called by God to shepherd a church, yet many are struggling under the weight of that calling and having to deal with the sheep. I want to start this podcast with a few statistics about pastors.
- 75% of pastors report being “extremely stressed” or “highly stressed”
- 90% work between 55 to 75 hours per week
- 90% feel fatigued and worn out every week
- 70% say they’re grossly underpaid
- 40% report a serious conflict with a parishioner at least once a month
- 78% were forced to resign from their church (63% at least twice), most commonly because of church conflict
- 80% will not be in ministry ten years later and only a fraction makes it a lifelong career. On average, seminary trained pastors last only five years in church ministry
- 100% of 1,050 Reformed and Evangelical pastors had a colleague who had left the ministry because of burnout, church conflict, or moral failure
- 91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry and 18% say they are “fried to a crisp right now”
What makes the job of being a pastor more difficult than other jobs is what I call accumulated trauma. Let me give you a recent example. During the Covid years every one of us was affected by Covid in some way. Our way of life was greatly disrupted with the lockdowns and government mandates. Many of us personally contracted Covid and many of us had friends or relatives who died as a result of Covid. We all experienced trauma as a result. That’s what we went through personally in our sphere of influence. Now imagine that you are the pastor of a church of 200 or 500 or 1000 and your sphere of influence increases drastically, and the amount of trauma that a pastor experiences increases tremendously.
Now consider the responsibility that was on those pastors during the Covid years. They were forced to maintain a balance between obeying God’s call on their life to shepherd their flocks but also remain obedient to the laws of the land. Where Cindi and I live in Tennessee the restrictions on churches were minimal. Most things here were in the form of recommendations from the health department rather than strict mandates. So, it was up to the individual church to decide how they would handle the Covid pandemic. And even with the freedom to make their own decisions pastors had to consider the risks of their church members getting sick if they chose to meet together. That is a lot of responsibility. In other parts of our country the restrictions on churches were much more severe. And in other parts of the world the lockdowns were government mandated and came with legal enforcement. At the same time people were getting sick and dying from this disease. And every time a church member experienced a death in the family, or they contracted the disease they wanted their pastor to be available to them. The trauma that church members experience is subtly passed on to the pastor. In this situation the pastor is experiencing secondhand trauma. Pastors are compassionate people so when one of their church members hurts, they subtly take on some of that hurt and trauma. And this kind of trauma accumulates when it is not dealt with and can lead to pastor burnout.
Another factor affecting pastors on an all too regular basis is the issue of betrayal. There is no gentle way to say this, but church members feel it is their right to criticize things the pastor says and does. A pastor can study for 10 or more hours a week putting together a sermon for Sunday. He prays, studies, researches and then writes his heart felt message for his church only to have people who hardly open their bible during the week criticize something he said. Oops, maybe I still need a little more healing myself! It is often like the people sitting in the stands of a football game criticizing the coach or players for their performance. This kind of betrayal is painful. Another betrayal that pastors experience is when people leave the church. The church will sing “We are family” until something happens that they don’t like and then they are out the door. I know of a church who had a church split over the color of the new carpet. That kind of betrayal is very painful for the pastor who pours his life into those people. Right or wrong the pastor usually takes this kind of betrayal as personal rejection, which is very painful not only to the pastor, but to the pastor’s family.
Another factor leading to pastor’s burnout is the number of hours they work. According to the statistics given earlier 90% of pastors work between 50-75 hours a week and 70% say they are grossly underpaid. Combine those two factors and it says to the pastor that his efforts are not being appreciated or rewarded with appropriate compensation. According to my experience as a pastor, I was expected to be at every church event, attend every birthday party, attend the church kids sporting events, and even mow the grass and do all of it with a smile on my face. I loved my church and the church people, but this kind of schedule leads to a kind of weariness that is hard for others to understand. Pastors give out so much emotionally and spiritually that this weariness is not relieved by simply getting more rest. As I said I loved my church and the church people, but I also loved and wanted time with my own wife and three children, and this kind of weariness hinders you from quality family time.
One of the biggest factors contributing to pastors getting burned out and quitting the ministry is that pastors do not feel like they have anywhere to go for help. Most feel like they can’t admit their struggle to their church for fear of losing their job. Pastors typically do not have many close friends they can talk to about their struggle, so most just tough it out and do the best they can. I remember talking with a guy I thought was my friend over coffee about a struggle I was having with one of the kids in my youth group, and guess what, that issue was brought up at the next church board meeting. Pastors feel like there is no place safe for them to go for help. It is no wonder that many pastors get caught up in some kind of sin because trying to handle their struggle all alone makes them easy prey for the enemy. He knows how to design a tailor-made temptation just for them.
Pastor, I tell you right now that RTF is a safe place for you to get help. RTF ministers have ministered to hundreds of pastors over the years, and no one will ever hear about it. Cindi and I have ministered to many pastors and leaders over the years, and we have never told anyone who they were or what they received ministry for.
We had a pastor come to us and receive ministry in his words “to check us out”. He had lived a very clean life since getting saved and did not appear to have much to deal with during the ministry time. God had other plans. As we went through the ministry process God met him in a powerful way and brought great healing and freedom to his life that had a drastic effect on his ministry. RTF changed his life and now RTF is changing his church.
Pastor here is how RTF can help you. We start by breaking off the effects of the generational sins and curses that you have inherited. One of the curses that is very freeing is to remove the effect of the curse of trauma from your life. Trauma affects a person spiritually, emotionally, and physically. When the effects of trauma are removed it is like a weight is lifted. Next, we minister to Ungodly Beliefs. I will boldly say that most pastors are being held back by Ungodly Beliefs. One of the most dangerous Ungodly Beliefs is that “I have to handle this alone; it is not safe to ask for help.” Or another powerful Ungodly Belief is “Since I am the one getting paid, I can’t ask others to help.” Another big lie that many pastors struggle with is the lie that says, “Who do you think you are to do anything great in the Kingdom of God.”
The next thing we deal with are those wounded places in your life. And please don’t tell me you don’t have any. Every pastor gets hurt, it is just a matter of how deeply they get hurt. Any unhealed wound is an access point the enemy can use in your life to cause more destruction. God knew that we were going to get hurt in this life, yes, He even knew pastors were going to get hurt and wounded. That is why He sent Jesus to heal our broken and wounded hearts.
The last part of RTF ministry is to get rid of the demonic interference in your life. It is the enemy who takes all of the stuff that pastors have to go through and stirs it up by energizing the demonic to keep causing more trouble and struggle. Once that interference is removed, you will be amazed at how much fun you can have in ministry once again.
Pastors, we love you and honor you for your service to the Kingdom of God. Please let us help you receive the healing and freedom you need in order to boldly fulfill the calling that God has on your life. Go to our website restoringthefoundations.org and click on the Get Ministry tab. There you will find a list of safe and confidential RTF ministers who can bring God’s healing and freedom into your life.
PRAYER
Father God, I thank you for the men and women who pastor your children. You know Father that your sheep sometimes bite the ones who are feeding them. Would you use this podcast to motivate pastors to reach out to RTF for help. Help that will make them more effective in the ministry you have called them to.
