Say NO to burn out and YES to self-care

One of the big questions these days that clergy like to ask (especially SINGLE pastors) is, "If I'm taking care of a congregation, who is taking care of me?" The obvious answer is of course, God, but that's not exactly what we are talking about. In a way, though, prayer is one of the ways we take care of ourselves. Just saying a prayer for our own person is a way to practice that ever important SELF CARE. It's a huge thing to learn, though. You all know I've been talking about it an how difficult a thing it is to cultivate when you are in a field that's all about care of OTHER people.

The importance of learning self care now is so that once I'm in the parish, I will already have in place the skills I need to "take care of myself." This is so I won't "burn out" or experience "compassion fatigue." This means, more literally, that I will have a spiritual adviser or counselor, I will have a group of other pastors to talk to (both in my situation and beyond it, and composed of as diverse a group as we can get in our area), the support of family even if they aren't physically nearby, and the skills to know when I need time to rest, go for a walk/run, reconnect with God (even attend another church's service), and LAUGH more.

So I'm learning. I'm also reading for my pastoral care class about compassion fatigue and I thought this bit was good:

"Besides managing workload, practicing stress reduction strategies, having hobbies, nurturing humor, and working to incorporate a balanced lifestyle, clergy have to derive meaning and satisfaction from their work. These are critical immunizations against compassion fatigue. For clergy, it is also important to look at how often they participate in worship outside the place where they are the leader.

Finally, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the unrealistic expectations congregations place on their clergy. For this to happen, parishioners need to be educated about role expectations of their clergy, time management, and the importance of self-care. Jesus set a good example of setting aside times for retreat from the crowds, and we would be wise to follow his example."

So I just liked that. It isn't just about self-care but about educating the church about why clergy NEED to take time away from them. In the end, it'll make us better pastors. Better able to take care of them by taking care of ourselves. God's so funny...

:)

*Excerpt from "Clergy: Compassion Fatigue" by Sheri S. Ferguson.