Facing Ministry Challenges

Encouraging Renewal in You and Others

Philip G. Monroe, PsyDBiblical Seminarypmonroe@biblical.edu

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?

Want the Slides?

www.wisecounsel.wordpress.com Facing Ministry Challenges

Email pmonroe@biblical.edu