I want to just use this blog to share some very tough and very uncomfortable things that you may or my not know about the life of. Pastor.
"They believe they are not supposed to have depressing thoughts."
Being a pastor — a high-profile, high-stress job with nearly impossible expectations for success — can send one down the road to depression.
"We set the bar so high that most pastors can't achieve that," said H.B. London, vice president for pastoral ministries at Focus on the Family
And because most pastors are people-pleasers, they get frustrated and depressed and feel they can't live up to that.
When pastors fail to live up to demands imposed by themselves or others they often "turn their frustration back on themselves," leading to self-doubt and to feelings of failure and hopelessness, said Fred Smoot, executive director of Emory Clergy Care in Duluth, Ga.
A pastor is like "a 24-hour ER" who is supposed to be available to any congregant at any time, said Steve Scoggin, president of CareNet.
It's a job that breeds isolation and loneliness — the pastorate's "greatest occupational hazards,"
"The likelihood is that one out of every four pastors is depressed," said Matthew Stanford, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. But anxiety and depression in the pulpit are "markedly higher" in the last five years, said Smoot. "The current economic crisis has caused many of our pastors to go into depression." Besides the recession's strain on church budgets, depressed pastors increasingly report frustration over their congregations' resistance to cultural change.
Most depression does not lead to suicide, but almost all suicides begin with depression.
This was very helpful and much needed. I hope that this helps to give you a deeper appreciation for your pastor and his silent struggle. Pastors are people too! God Bless
No comments:
Post a Comment