7 Ways to Prevent Ministry Burnout
They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The same is true with burnout—it’s easier to prevent an overwhelming and unsustainable pace than it is to dig yourself out of one. For ministry leaders, it’s crucial to have healthy habits in place so that you don’t succumb to the effects of spreading yourself too thin. Thankfully, there are many practical ways that pastors and those in ministry can prevent burnout.
Seven Ways to Avoid Ministry Burnout:
1. Observe a Weekly Sabbath
God’s design for humanity reflects the rhythm in which He created the world—produce for six days and rest on the seventh. God not only modeled but also commanded this: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)
God designed the Sabbath for our good, and it is a gift to be able to set aside a 24-hour period each week to rest, reset, and grow closer to the Lord. Maybe it sounds counterintuitive to do nothing productive for an entire day when you have things to do and people to care for, but it’s possibly the most productive thing you could do. Pausing allows you to recharge your battery and start again with fresh energy.
Observing the Sabbath doesn’t just happen; you have to intentionally make your life work around it. It takes planning ahead and sometimes putting in more effort on the days leading up to it in order to free up those 24 hours of rest.
2. Fill Your Spiritual Cup
Many pastors are so busy serving their church body that they neglect to seek and receive the same soul care they provide for others. In this type of work, gritting your teeth and powering through for too long can backfire. Stress and irritation can “leak” out at unexpected times if you’re running on empty: a course word or outburst, a pesky headache, or an increased urge for one of your vices. Maybe you see this happening in your life already.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus regularly leaves the crowds to pray, rest, and gain strength in solitude. Spending quiet time in prayer, self-reflection, and meditating on the Word each day is a way to refill your spiritual cup. Meeting regularly with a mentor, such as a more experienced pastor, is another great way to replenish your spiritual cup.
3. Maintain Clearly Defined Boundaries
Boundaries (in the most simple sense) are lines that mark limits. Think of your home and the safeguards that protect your personal space and loved ones inside it. We use fences and lock doors to limit who or what can come in or out.
In the same way, boundaries protect our time, energy, and resources by limiting how much we give, in what ways, and to whom. Ministry leaders with poor or nonexistent boundaries will undoubtedly suffer burnout quicker than those who are disciplined about managing their limits.
Do you have specific work hours and job expectations? Setting work hours and allotting time for weekly tasks (and sticking to it) goes a long way. Similarly, relational boundaries are also important. When and how will you make yourself available? What time will you reserve for your family? For yourself? Relationships get blurry for a lot of pastors because they have a hard time recognizing when they’ve surpassed their healthy limits of helping. How effectively do you differentiate yourself from the people you serve? To what extent do you take on others’ problems as if they were your own? Where do you end and others begin?
4. Rely on a Support Team
Leading a ministry is hard enough—doing it alone is even harder. Having a team of leaders and administrators to share the load can help keep you from becoming overwhelmed. Consider delegating some responsibilities to capable team members. A sounding board with a variety of ideas, perspectives, and complementary skills and talents enriches your unique gifts and the life of your church. It also affords you the opportunity to take time off, knowing that your team will hold down the fort.
5. Communicate Well
One skill of emotional health is the ability to effectively express one’s thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Being able to receive and understand others is equally important. How comfortable are you telling your team or spouse when you’re struggling? How do you express your needs and wants? How do you receive feedback? Keeping an ongoing dialogue with your inner circle eliminates assumptions, misunderstandings, and unmet expectations. We can’t change what we’re not aware of.
6. Prioritize Social Connections Outside of Ministry
We were created to be in close relationships with other people. The lockdowns and social distancing of the pandemic highlighted how important face-to-face connection is for mental health. Ministry leaders need to be connected with their church body, but they also need relationships where they can take off the “pastor hat” and just be. They need friends who are peers with no expectations of them. Many pastors feel internal pressure to wear these leadership hats even outside of church. On the other hand, people unknowingly expect their pastor to always be ministering to them. With whom can you take off your pastor hat? Who are some peers with whom you can invest in friendship?
7. Focus on Goals
Think back to when you were called into ministry. What vision did God put on your heart for your ministry and the people you serve? How is your day-to-day work leading you to that vision? If you’re not sure what your goals are, start with Jesus’ directive to the disciples in the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Take it a step further and define how God has called you and your ministry to do this. Once you have clear goals, every decision you make in ministry will become easier, eliminating unnecessary distractions that take up your time and energy. You will be free to say no to anything that doesn’t lead to this end.
Emotional Health and Leadership
As a ministry leader, your emotional health is closely tied to how well you can lead others. The effects of burnout creep in slowly and sometimes go unnoticed until they become glaringly obvious, and you can no longer function. If you find yourself past the point of burnout, reach out to one of our counselors. We are here to help ministry leaders weather the effects of burnout and build support structures to protect emotional and spiritual health.