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Facing Ministry Challenges
Encouraging Renewal in You and Others
Philip G. Monroe, PsyDBiblical [email protected]
Got Discouragement?
What is the biggest threat to encouragement in ministry? How do you combat it in your own life? How do you help others combat it?
Not really encouraging?
Thesis:
Shepherds must establish consistent self-reflection and self-care in order to avoid being an impediment to the mission of God
The continuous demands of ministry (along with criticism and self-doubt) make it difficult to reflect, evaluate, and receive shepherding
3 Topics
Ministry stress is real…and deadly to the soul
Renewal practices work
3 recommended practices you can use to support renewal in others
One ministry leader:
“I do not know where my work starts or where it ends.”
Greatest Ministry Stressor?
? Unrealistic expectations by self and
church (actual vs. ideal ministry duties)
84% of pastors believe their family should be healthier than others
Unrealistic expectations?
It is easy to maintain a robust prayer life
Ready for any challenge Balance ministry and family
demands Pastor myself
Key expectation
A robust personal prayer life▪ Only 16% of pastors “very satisfied”▪ 30% “dissatisfied”▪ Only 9% “very satisfied” under age 45 but
30% of those age 60+▪ Only 5% of Presbyterians “very satisfied”▪ Avg prayer time? 39 min per day▪ 12 min. of requests, 8 min. listening, 7 min.
thanksgiving, 7 min. praise, 5 min. confession▪ Presbyterians average 28 minutes in prayer
From greymatterresearch.com 2005 survey of 868 Sr. pastors
Key expectation
Prepared for challenges▪ 38% of evangelical churches have no budget
for continued education▪ 46% report lack of support by church/denom.
Assumption: You have all you will ever need to minister well in a changing world▪ Corollary: You should be able to imbibe evil
and not be unduly impacted
See 2005 survey of 860 pastors at greymatterresearch.com
Key expectation
Personal and family health▪ 71% of Sr. pastors are overweight by avg of
32 lbs▪ 9:10 get less sleep than national avg. ▪ Vast majority rate their own family and
marital health as very good, BUT…▪ most admit to spending too little time with family
AND report…▪ 1:4 of peers have child discipline problems▪ 1:5 of peers have significant marital discord
▪ Overestimating one’s own health?
Key expectation
I can be a lone ranger! ▪ 76% of time by self▪ 16% of time from family (spouse)▪ 8% of time from outside relationships▪ Note: only 7% would consider going to a
counselor but 84% willing to refer a parishioner
2005 study by McMinn et al in Pastoral Psychology
A recipe…
Expectations + stress + isolation = ? tired, starving shepherds▪ Who do but cannot be
Did you know… Stress from lack of social support is more
predictive of negative mood and physical distress than is financial stress?
Starving people tend to eat…
Wherever they find food Control? Escapism? Perfectionism/Performance?
Discouragers: Two known factors
Vision conflict Self? Ministry? Family?
Burnout
http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/pir/pir_v2.cfm
Baptizing Your expectations
Introspective… or ruminative
Motivated… or ignoring limits
Visionary… or inflexible
Honest… or cynical
The pastor’s fantasy?
Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live.
Chambers, continued
….Unless the worker lives a life that “is hidden with Christ in God,” he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups.
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, April 24
Do you agree?
Pastors often lack a strong spiritual vision for their own formation amidst conflicting priorities
▪ Chandler, “Pastoral Burnout…” Pastoral Psychology, 2009
Three Essential practices
Spiritual renewal practices Rest-taking practices Support system practices
Hands & Fehr. Spiritual Wholeness for Clergy (1993)
Stones of Remembrance
Write down your “stones” Stories of God’s handiwork in your life▪ One long ago▪ One or two recent
Bishop Moule
Take care that no pre-occupation with things pastoral allows you to forget the supreme need of drawing out of Christ’s fullness, and out of the treasures of His Word, for your own soul and life, as if that were the one and solitary soul and life in existence.
Hebrews 12 on Renewal
Hebrews 12:3: “Consider Him…so you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
“What a strange cure for mental weariness….I should have expected an invitation to mental rest….The weariness of the body is cured by slumber; but the weariness of the mind can be cured only by stimulus.”
George Matheson, Leaves for Quiet Hours, p. 141
Consider
Be mindful not to rob God (Mal 3) by forgetting God’s creative work around you (Ps. 8) His kindness and sternness (Rom. 11) Your stones of remembrance (1 Sam 7) His Word
It takes practice and discipline to reorient our life around considering rather than accomplishments
Reflections include
Remembrance (What is God doing?) Reality (What do I really believe?) Repentance (Do my private and
public lives match?) Repetition (Do I persevere?)
Lesser Used Renewal Practices
Watchfulness Silence Rest
Watchfulness
Mt 25:13: Therefore keep watch… Just what am I trying to watch?▪ Watchfulness = intentional awareness ▪ It is not passive but a way of construing the
world (J. Wilhoit) Watchfulness requires…▪ An unblinking focus
What logismoi do you “watch”?
Moule:
Solitude will not by itself, if I judge rightly, help him to secret intercourse with God. A feeling of solitude, under most circumstances, much more tends, by itself, to drive a man unhealthily inward, in unprofitable questionings and broodings, or in still less happy exercises of thought. Or it drives him unhealthily outward, quickening the wish for mere stimulants and excitements of mind and interest.
Thesis Revisited
The continuous demands of ministry (along with criticism and self-doubt) make it difficult to reflect, evaluate, and receive shepherding without the help of others
To: Timothy From: Mentor
Remember (ch. 1) Act (ch. 2-3) Be wary (ch. 4-6)
Brain-storm
If Paul were writing to you, what dangers and admonitions would he give you?
What discipling have you received from another person in your life in 2010? Question: Does anyone know you
enough to write this? Who really disciples you?
Supporting Renewal in Others
Setting Objectives Eliminating Barriers Spiritual Care Teams
Spiritual Care Team
A team of wise prayer warriors not unwilling to wade into your life to act as shepherd and friend
SCTs function as your support, accountability, worship leader, and advisor
Building an SCT
Who is able AND willing to give their time on a monthly basis?
Who is spiritually mature enough to listen and speak at the right times?
Both sexes should be involved. None should report to or be family members
Can’t find anyone?
How the SCT should function
Meet to pray and worship Meet with you to develop a sense of
the issues and concerns: What questions, areas of concern, areas of joy, etc.
Follow-up with your schedule, your family, etc.
Meet with your family
Questions to ask?
Content of concerns and ruminations Where did you see God at work in
your life? Temptations? What needs to be removed from
your schedule? Added?
SCTs fail when…
You aren’t honest with them They are too enamored with your
position They are too enamored with their
own advice or legalistic It functions like a committee instead
of care team Prayer is an afterthought
Professional Care?
Should you pay for spiritual care? Barriers in you and your church Benefits? Drawbacks?
1,000 dollar budget line? Spiritual direction Preventive counseling
We are the Lord’s Ministers; we have a cure and charge of souls as the unordained Christian has not; and let us remember it, humbly and reverently.
But also we are, all the while, sheep of the flock…
Bishop Handley Moule, To My Younger Brethren
Group Discussions
What hinders us from building spiritual care teams External? Internal?
What renewal opportunities are available to me that I need to start using? Daily? Sabbatical? Educational? Group? Discipleship?
What family renewal opportunities do I need?
