- Church & pastoral health
The past 15 months have been absolutely brutal for pastors. Pastoring and operating a church during a pandemic — church members having strong emotions around mask policies, heightened racial tensions, political division, steep learning curves to extreme change, the list goes on and on — has completely drained many of our pastors.
Barna Group’s research shows 29% of pastors have seriously considered quitting full-time ministry in the last year.
Related: Meeting today’s new challenges
At Converge, we want to help. So, over the past year, we created a series of videos, Staying Emotionally Healthy as a Pastor, featuring practical guidance and wisdom dedicated to pastors’ emotional health.
In this article, you will find a summary of each video in the series. Read through the summaries and prayerfully consider which ones you should do a deep dive on. Each video also comes with a transcript for those who prefer reading over watching.
The new PTSD
Dr. Michael Bischof, founder and president of SOULeader Resources, joins Dr. Bruce Hopler, Converge’s executive director of Church Strengthening, to discuss present-traumatic soul disorders he sees in pastors and leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Bishof also shares practical ways to care for your soul during this crisis.
Leading in the midst of the storm
Are you leading out of control? Perhaps, you may have misunderstood the question.
Is your leadership out of your control and under God’s control? A storm is entirely out of your control, but you can control what covering you are under, which can ultimately get you past that storm.
How anxiety affects the pastor’s brain
Have you ever wondered how anxiety affects the pastor’s brain? Learn how to understand anxiety better and overcome it by watching this conversation with pastor Jason Cusick.
The art of self-care
Pastors, the demands on your time, life and energy are enormous. Yet your ability to help others is dependent on your emotional health. Learn how to stay emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy so that you can serve your community well.
Only human in a pandemic
Are you experiencing the warning signs? This episode will show you how to be aware of the physical, emotional and spiritual warning signs of burnout and what you can do to turn things around.
Maintaining an emotionally balanced life
There is nothing more comforting than someone walking with you through a similar journey. This episode is about maintaining an emotionally balanced life because we’ve realized every pastor needs a pastor to know they aren’t facing life’s challenges alone.
Leaders that last
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” Proverbs 29:18.
Today, it may seem pointless to think and dream ahead for yourself and the people you lead. Yet, in Scripture, we see that God continually moved his people forward through seemingly impossible circumstances. He used leaders who sought him first, before their mission. Then these leaders were able to look ahead.
When you’re tired and worn
As a pastor, it can be scary to admit that you’re not OK. But, just like any other person, there are real things beyond this pandemic happening in your life. So how can you keep your heart, mind and soul healthy in times like these?
You are not alone. We want to stand by you If you need more resources, consider these:
- Compass: Unlike a retreat, Compass is an intensive time that uses effective tools to enable you to better listen to the Holy Spirit as you complete a self-assessment of your personal, relational and ministry lives. You and your spouse will walk away from Compass with your own personalized, self-developed guide to help you eliminate barriers and build a framework to move forward and increase fruitfulness in your ministry.
- Reach out to your local district as they want to journey with you.
