There is a growing body of evidence that the complexity and stressful nature of the vocation of pastor is increasing. Why should we expect anything else in a world whose stress level is growing. After all, being a pastor is an incarnational experience of being part of the flesh and blood community known as the church. The church is made up of ordinary people called out of the world. The world is experiencing some seismic transitions in many areas. Increasingly we see bizarre forms of acting out from people who have crumbled under the pressure. Extreme forms of acting out can take the form of violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse, economic schemes, etc. Less dramatic but more frequent are bizarre social behavior,temper tantrums, irresponsible forms of eating, intolerant public discourse, etc.
Pastors are called to bring a gospel to bear on this brittle society and offer an invitation to pause and breathe in a renewing, refreshing, and healing spirit. That does not mean that we come to that task shielded from the same pressures that are affecting our congregation. Recently there have been a couple of pastor suicides that have made the press. I have talked to a number of pastors that feel as if they are struggling to just hang on and others who acknowledge they are experiencing seasons of depression. Pastors, too, need to pause and breathe in a renewing spirit.
What I would like to explore over the next several times, is how pastors can work with their officers as a team for developing strategies to develop a healthy church in the midst of our complex world. This is not intended to be an add on program to an already busy schedule. Rather, we are looking at how we might be intentional in shaping the life of the whole church and recognizing that as leaders of the church, both officers and pastors must also be intentional about caring for each other.
