Clergy Self-Care: Finding a Balance for Effective Ministry, by Roy M Oswald (Alban Institute, 1991) is still one of the best books on stress and burnout in Christian ministry.

Roy Oswald has been ‘through it’ – his own burnout, mid-life crisis, divorce, four years of heavy psychoanalysis etc. – and for a couple of decades has led popular seminars on this subject with the respected Alban Institute in the U.S.

Main ideas:

•  Many voices say to the clergy: ‘You can do it better’ rather than, for  example, ‘Are you having any fun lately?’
• Let us encourage clergy and congregations to reject what I believe is a dysfunctional “medical model” that treats pathology in isolation from the whole person
• Approx. 20% of clergy score extremely high on my Clergy Burnout Inventory. If they’ve been in long pastorates (ten years or more) it’s 50%. No wonder many clergy have a recurring dream of leading Sunday morning worship while stark naked
• The goal should be to take care of myself, not only for my sake, but also for the sake of others – finding a balance between healthy self-care and unhealthy narcissism
• Matthew Fox says the clergy’s worst sin is not being heretical or unethical, but just being plain dull
• At least 70% of all ailments may be stress-related, and studies indicate that people who had recently lost a loved one or had lost a job had a higher than average rate of illness and death
• Pastor ‘Bill’ always had this voice in his head: “Don’t be your authentic self. Be like your predecessor!”
• Clergy ought to strive to do their ministry in 50 hours a week or less (Oswald reiterates this at least half-a-dozen times) – and also take two days off per week like everyone else. (Sunday can’t be a pastor’s Sabbath). Many overuse their listening or caring capacities, and are consumed by too many needy people
• Jesus never seemed to burn out… The wondrous phrase that keeps showing up in the Gospels is “he dismissed the crowd”
• Much of the stress of ministry comes from trying to resolve conflicts that cannot, and should not, be resolved. Polarities can never be resolved; they can only be managed
• Go for a walk rather than have that extra piece of cake. A ten-ounce can of Pepsi contains ten teaspoons of sugar. Cut down on your consumption of red meat (to perhaps just twice a week): eat skinless chicken and fish instead. Fasting is good for you. Hatha yoga says we either use our muscles or we lose them. Walking a mile burns the same number of calories as running a mile
• In my seminary years no one asked me if I prayed or practised any sort of “rule of life”. Christology? Yes, but not if I believed in Christ. Clergy need a deeper spiritual life more than they need better knowledge or skills. Take at least 15 minutes to move into a “meditative space” before you rush out of the door. Sometimes turn off the car radio when driving (perhaps get the audio-cassette “Chants for the Road”)
• Smart parishes know it’s in their self-interest to offer a competent pastor a periodic sabbatical
• Try not to take your worries home, or they’ll take precedence over family and personal activities  
• Try not to handle a piece of paper (these days, an email) more than once: don’t open your mail until you’re ready to answer it. Manage your phone calls with an answering machine
• Norman Cousins claims to have cured a crippling/supposedly irreversible disease with laughter. A ten-minute belly-laugh gave him at least two hours of painfree sleep. (Oswald: “I believe that God is able to laugh and cry at the same time”). (Cartoon: church matriarch to pastor in a hospital bed: “Good news Reverend. The board has voted to pray for your recovery… the vote was 5 to 4”)
• When Peter said “I’m going fishing” it was as though he’d done enough worrying and it was time to do something else
• Does your church practise a healing ministry? Jesus sent his disciples out to “preach, teach, and heal” (see also James 5:14-15). Good ‘healing ministers” feel a sympathy for the patient and tend to “blend in” emotionally and spiritually with him or her

More: put the words stress, burnout etc. into the search facility of the John Mark Ministries website (jmm.aaa.net.au)

Rowland Croucher

June 2012