Church Pastors, If Facing Pastor Burnout,
Need Words Of Encouragement

Today, more than ever, we need to offer words of encouragement to church pastors!

If I could, I would write a poem for pastors, letting them know how much I appreciate them for serving the Lord. My words of appreciation for pastors come from the heart of one who spent 30 years being addressed as "Pastor Paul". (I never insisted on a title like "Reverend".)

When I was among the ranks of church pastors, I had people address me as "Pastor Paul". It reminded me to be humble in my pastoral role as a shepherd of the flock assigned me.

To me, being called Pastor Paul was a constant reminder of my God given assignment, a two word job description to provide spiritual care for a church needing a pastor.

Giving Encouragement To Pastors

I love giving encouragement to pastors, doing so with because of my own personal career change through what I call the ministry of websites.

For example, this career focused website is aimed at church pastors, many who are close to pastor burnout, to offer a positive message -- words of encouragement to pastors and others in church ministry who just may be feeling the Monday morning "blues".

By the way I use

SiteBuildIt

as my internet ministry platform and now rely upon it as my ministry income source.

From personal experience I discovered that pastors long to hear someone say, "Pastor, thanks for your obedience to God's call. My life is richer because of your ministry to me".

Talk about words of encouragement! I always found new courage from those encouraging comments me when I was pastor of a local parish.

Yes, I have served as both senior pastor, associate pastor, and even as a youth pastor when in my own "youth" while still a student in college.

By the way, I sure wish there would have been youth ministry resources like those Simply Youth Ministry

Associate Pastors, Encourage Your Boss

Basically, if I had to define an associate pastor's job description, it would be "make the senior pastor look good!".

I loved serving as an associate pastor. To me, an associate pastor is a church's chief encourager to his or her pastor. I always thought that playing second fiddle was to make first fiddle sound better.

Flexibility is the key for the associate pastor -- you never know which of the various "church hats" you will be wearing in a particular week. When our church bought a reader board church sign, I become the Associate Pastor of Church Sign Sayings!

Averting Pastoral Burnout

The number of pastors said to be leaving the ministry is staggering! I have heard some say 1,500 per month! Whether they are leaving senior pastor jobs or youth pastor jobs, for most churches, one pastor quitting their church and leaving is one too many.

What can you do? Pray for pastors! Every time I drive past a church campus, I use it as a prompter to pray for church pastors.

Yes, I believe pastor burnout can be averted simply by words of encouragement to pastors. Oh yeah, many pastors could also use a raise!

Leaving the ministry, as some call it, is not usually because of ill health (other than being sick and tired of the unrealistic expectations job descriptions for pastors place on them.)

I personally do not use the term leaving the ministry. While a pastor may be leaving a local church assignment for another vocational choice, I have seen many expand their ministry by doing so. Doing something other than pastoring a church may be the very calling God will use to make a powerful impact on our world for Christ.

Ministry is far too wide to be limited to a local church.