Ministry Endurance and Avoiding Burnout

The number of pastors and ministry leaders considering leaving full-time ministry has shot up over the past five years.

In March 2022, the Barna Group reported that 42% of pastors surveyed considered quitting within the past year. This was up from 29% the previous January. While a 2021 Faithlife survey reported around 35% of pastors feeling burned out, with pastors aged 25 to 40 revealed to be the most at risk.

While these statistics predominately relate to US pastors, the problem of pastoral burnout is not solely an American problem. For those of us who live and minister in the United Kingdom, having times of feeling overwhelmed, depressed, or burnt by the pressures of church life are not uncommon.

Many of us will have harboured a secret daydream of an alternative career and the ease we’d experience from not being in ministry. Wondering if we have the stamina to finish the ministry race happens more than we’d care to admit.

So, are there any solutions? What can help us endure to the end while sacrificially serving others?

The Unhurried Pastor

Brian Croft and Ronnie Martin bring their years of experience both of being in ministry and helping other pastors to cast a better vision for ministry in their new book The Unhurried Pastor. They aim to show how those in ministry can embrace more a sustainable pace to continue to serve Jesus and his sheep for many years.

While many of the topics covered in The Unhurried Pastor aren’t necessarily new, the fact others have highlighted them too shows that these are key areas pastors need to pay attention to.

Pastors, women in ministry, those in leadership in their churches – they all need friends. They need others who will be with them in times of opposition, walk with them in times of suffering, enjoy being with in times of joy, and pray with them at all times. They need rest and to care for themselves. They need to consider the importance of sleep, eating well and exercise.

Embrace your humanity

What makes this book so challenging and fresh is the emphasis it places on the need for pastors to embrace their humanity.

In the first chapter, Ronnie Martin reminds the reader that they are first and foremost, “a person who is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God... a descendant of Adam, whom God formed from the dust of the earth.” (p20) This is such an important truth for those of us in ministry to grasp as it reminds us that we are fallible, vulnerable and dependent creatures.

We are not made to do everything or be everything for everyone. Instead, we have limits, and we have needs; physical, spiritual and emotional. We are not failing in our roles if we acknowledge what we cannot do and attend to our needs.

Throughout the book, both authors winsomely and wisely point out the need for those in ministry to prioritise their relationship with Jesus. If we are dependent creatures, then we need to grow in our total dependence on our Creator for all things. This is what will guard us against potential burnout and the desire to satisfy our needs solely through earthly pursuits.

We need sleep, we need friends, we need to exercise, but first and foremost we need Jesus:

“This is where we need humility to recognise not only that we need the food of Jesus’ word as much as our people but that we need to receive and partake of it all the more.” (p39)

I am well aware that in busy or stressful seasons of ministry, my personal time with Jesus can be squeezed out for the more pressing tasks of the day. However, if I guard that time I can “cultivate patience and perseverance so that I may finish well what I started.” (p159)

For all in ministry, at all times

As a woman in ministry, I found there was much to glean from The Unhurried Pastor and there were relatively few times I had to filter out the fact it has been written with pastors in mind. I have been using the ‘Daily Spiritual Health Plan’ they suggested in the appendix in my morning devotional time since reading the book.

The questions have caused me to slow down and reflect on how I am doing and what God is saying to me each day. They have also pushed me to see the ways God has been answering my prayers and the blessings he has given me.

The plan offers spiritual exercises for the afternoon and evening which I would like to incorporate into my day as well:

“Many of us spend time with Jesus in the morning only to move into a ‘work mode’ mentality for the rest of the day. By taking a few precious moments to pause and recentre yourself, you acknowledge both your limitations and the unlimited love and care that is waiting for you as you reengage with Jesus.” (p166)

The Unhurried Pastor is not merely for those starting to feel the creep of burnout into their ministries. I would recommend it to all in ministry, especially those starting out. Establishing good patterns at the beginning of our ministry journeys is only going to aid our perseverance to the end.

Why don’t you consider reading it with another ministry friend? Look to encourage one another to slow down, look to Jesus, and trust that God will bring fruitfulness to our ministry as we do so.

You can order a copy of The Unhurried Pastor from The Good Book Company.

Brian Croft will be one of the speakers at our 2024 Leaders' Conference in November, as well as at a post-conference event.