How Do You Avoid Ministry Burnout? | Episode 137

Ministry is a never-ending responsibility. Consequently, many leaders struggle to maintain balance and prioritize family relationships, personal and spiritual health, and rest. Dr. David K. Bernard shares practical advice gained from his own experiences in ministry and leadership on how to avoid burnout in the face of hectic schedules and constant demands.
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[@cathygrant1823]

Bro Bernard this is a very wise word and important, thank you. Would you please address a topic for the saints of God as well. Most people work Mon-Fri with long hours and driving commutes. Saturday is the only day that they have to do family chores, activities etc. But when churches expect you to be at family prayer, choir etc on Saturday nights, this leaves little time for the working people to get any family time in or necessary home chores & needs that need attention. Sunday is not a day of rest with AM & PM service. I'm older now ,but have experienced all the above in my lifetime.. busy, busy... now I see the younger and middle marrieds caught up in this never ending cycle... talk about burn out. I truly feel this is a hot topic that needs addressed. Thank you .

[@wjdyr6261]

The church and leaders need to address that locally and tell them to take of personal time even if it means missing some prayer meeting.

[@realmccoy124]

Welcome to the joy of the ‘Resource Driven Church’ - where well intentioned folks get ground up and processed out like hamburger. You have choir, you have Sunday school, you have Bible quizzing, you have teen, you college and career, young marrieds… on and on the list goes.
Historically, the Church viewed the home as an extension of the Church… your prayer life is a spiritual discipline, and so is your daily scripture reading.
The pressure families’ experience is crazy… and I didn’t even throw education into the mix with homework.
The question is, why do we do all these things… do we have to do them all?
Time is your greatest constraint - and your most precious resource. I know UPCIers don’t like the notion of being consociated with other Protestants… but about 10 years ago, many of these groups determined a college like schedule was the way to go - where folks would sign up to minister on a specific topic… like A Survey of James… and if that interested you, you would sign up. There was a set schedule that ended at a set time. And there were times there weren’t any ‘product offerings’ for folks to consume… and that produced a down time for those teaching and those following - to rest and refresh and reconnect in the next round of classes.
The includes things like choir… and the folks who are in auxiliary ministries supporting the pulpit ministry.
Your pastor should survey and know how things are in your church. I know Dr Bernard focused on ‘ministers’ - his intended audience for this channel (my perception). But laity burnout is just as real as those in the pulpit…
Trust you are well.

[@angeljosey6635]

Great video, it was very refreshing to hear it’s okay to rest from ministry. We are taught to always work hard and rest when we get to heaven. I would love to hear this video from from Sister Bernard in a lady viewpoint. So how can we manage rest, ministry, taking care of our homes, and personal life.

[@FirstLast-il8pf]

I am all ears
👂 👂! I NEED THIS! Another ONTIME MESSAGE! Thank you DKB❤ LORD BLESS YOU IN JESUS NAME

[@jackiet5334]

All good advice, but I do wonder if pastors today are aware of the difficulties and challenges of the laiety. In my experience with UPC, I saw what seemed to be burned-out assistant pastors, worship teams, volunteers, reach-out ministry, to the point that they would become sick, or develop chronic illness in their middle age and older. How can someone get 'rest' or a 'good night's rest' when they are suffering with chronic pain at night? Not everyone in church is energetic and healthy. Many are depressed and lonely and sickly. I've seen church workers who have financial insecurity and worry about being able to retire, I've seen workers who have special-needs children, or chronically-sick children to tend to. Not everyone lives a perfect controlled scheduled lifestyle. I've seen these good obedient loving christians just have breakdowns and I'm wondering why pastors do not discuss this in the pulpit? From my observation, more than half of church members have pressing personal problems and live day to day without any security for tomorrow. It's an hour by hour existence, or a day by day existence for many in the church. Most working families don't get a month of vacation, many get two weeks? Our society demands that women work outside the home if they want to afford the necessities. Not everyone can afford to 'get away from it all'. Where I lived, our church members could only afford small vacation in the same province for 2 or 3 days at a time. No cruises, warm climate vacations, and many who had adult children and grandchildren who lived on the opposite coast did not get to see them for years. But these were faithful tithers. Do pastors really know how it feels for a husband to come home spiritually exhausted from a worldly work environment? Having a boss? Not knowing when the lay-offs will happen?
It would seem there's a great unspoken divide between clergy and laiety.

[@kevbeast4372]

Hey guys 👋 I was wondering if y'all could do an episode about the difference between teaching and preaching and why Pentecostal preaching seems so different from other denominations such as baptist and etc. Thank you so much for spreading the word of God!

[@FolloweroftheWAY777]

Hey 🙌 thank you for sharing this.

[@ishakespear6557]

Amen

[@BYITW]

Talk about gensis 3:6