Rowland et al,

[A denominational leader] in a PDP seminar today referred to you Rowland and something you wrote suggesting that unresolved family of origin issues is the number #1 cause of dropout/failure/ problems/ burnout in pastoral ministry. Could you and/or others on the list suggest a good book or article or two that would introduce the topic? I’d like to read some for myself, and then lend them to a friend who suggest they have no such issues related to ministry hassles.

Ta 🙂

Darren

August 19, 2006

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Hi Darren

Re Stress/Burnout you’ll find most of the books are written by high achievers or people writing about their own situations or psychologists who are not eclectic in their thinking or ‘pep-up consultants’ who major on shifting life’s deck-chairs around on the sinking Titanic…

There was a good book on stress for Christian leaders written by two or three Christian psychologists in Sydney a decade ago which was the first I’d read to factor in ‘family of origin’ stuff. Can’t remember the title and can’t find my copy: musta lent it to a book-keeper 🙂

Briefly: after listening to hundreds of stories of pastors-in-transition especially the majority who leave pastoral situations in a context of conflict, I had an ‘aha’ experience after the first couple of hundred, and after reading 250 responses to our questionnaire on the subject. Two different pastors in similar conflictual situations will experience different outcomes. Why is it so? 50+ answers to that question

(See http://jmm.org.au/articles/2001.htm for the questionnaire, especially this one: `PRESENTING’ VS. UNDERLYING FACTORS.

43. List the key `stated’ or `obvious’ reasons for leaving parish ministry

44. If a spiritual director, counsellor or trusted friend asked: `But what might have been the real reasons (say, in the areas of the reality of faith, calling etc?)’ How would you respond?

These two questions exposed the hidden stuff very well…

For example: if conflict is a result of a ‘church heavy’ organizing folks to isolate/get rid of the pastor, then one question among many which has to be asked is ‘How has this pastor handled conflictual situations from childhood onwards?’ This of course in addition to the many *presenting* variables – theological, historical/traditional, expectations in terms of pastoral style etc. etc.

Of course, the same surface/deeper questions must be asked of the ‘antagonists’

See http://jmm.org.au/catalog/section/xp1.htm for 100+ articles on various aspects of this intriguing question.

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Shalom! Rowland Croucher

“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity” (Oliver Wendell Holmes)

More Stress and Burnout resources here.