By Mike Glenn In a great movie, there’s always something that’s about to explode. The nuclear reactor in the sub, the boiler in the train engine, the engine on the airplane…the scenes in the movie jump from a rising pressure gauge, the sweating engineers, and the tense lip biting by-standers. While great in movies, these pressure cooking scenes are horrible ways to live and unfortunately, the scene I just described is the inner life of most pastors I know. If we could see the drama going on inside them, I’m afraid we’d see a rising pressure gauge and a sweating engineer trying to keep things from blowing up.
Adding my voice to the chorus of "Great Advice!" I wish that all seminaries required their students to engage in therapy as part of their training for ministry. I was that student who needed it and didn't know it -- and thanks be to God that he found a way to get me in there anyway!
Thanks, Mike. I've been doing all the things you mention and add Spiritual Direction and regular Spiritual Disciplines to the list. Yet, even when doing all the right things, the weight of pastoring a church and attempting to make disciples with all the expectations of our consumer society and being under resourced, under staffed - it can be crushing. God help us.
All good advice. On a minor point: As a frequent visitor to the States from Down Under I was bemused with the expectation that board members are seen as fundraisers. This always seemed a potential interest conflict. Here in Oz it’s more common to structure this within the team reporting to the CEO/Pastor and free the Board to govern.
Adding my voice to the chorus of "Great Advice!" I wish that all seminaries required their students to engage in therapy as part of their training for ministry. I was that student who needed it and didn't know it -- and thanks be to God that he found a way to get me in there anyway!
Thanks, Mike. I've been doing all the things you mention and add Spiritual Direction and regular Spiritual Disciplines to the list. Yet, even when doing all the right things, the weight of pastoring a church and attempting to make disciples with all the expectations of our consumer society and being under resourced, under staffed - it can be crushing. God help us.
Good "stuff," Mike.
Thank you for writing this post, as well as for living your life in such a way so that you've acquired the wisdom you've shared herein.
Excellent advice , thank you
All good advice. On a minor point: As a frequent visitor to the States from Down Under I was bemused with the expectation that board members are seen as fundraisers. This always seemed a potential interest conflict. Here in Oz it’s more common to structure this within the team reporting to the CEO/Pastor and free the Board to govern.