A major contribution that a governing body can make in support of the pastors of their churches is to take the initiative in raising the question about maintaining the health of their pastor and staff. Within the Presbyterian system, that means talking to the session. If you asked a session whether they would rather have a healthy staff or one that is exhausted and near burnout, they would quickly choose the healthy staff choice. Usually, however, they don’t think about such a question at all. By raising such a question, the governing body has already taken a positive step.
Of course the next question is, but what can we do about it? And the first reality that we have to face is that quite often the pastor is the biggest resister to self-care. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, this may well have to do with internal messages that even the pastor has not consciously identified. However, another major factor is whether the pastor feels support from the leadership in practicing self-care. So the first step that a session can take is having a conversation with the pastor that encourages him or her to take the issue of self-care seriously.
Let me be clear that I am not talking about simply working less hours. That may be an issue but it is usually only a symptom of a larger issue. I know pastors who have a fairly modest work schedule who do a lousy job of taking care of themselves. I also know of pastors who work 70 hour weeks but also are very intentional about self-care. What we are talking about is a more holistic strategy of self-care.
Over the next several days I will try to suggest concrete steps in developing that strategy but being willing to have the conversation is the first major step. If someone from presbytery is willing to facilitate that conversation, that will be best.
