Pastoring God's People

For all those who have been commissioned to pastoral roles of all kinds.

Rekindling the fire

by Keith Harder

In ministry there is often a loss of the inspiration that once empowered pastors to take risks, to boldly proclaim God’s word, and to confidently mediate God’s grace. Sometimes the “spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” runs low and needs to be renewed.

How do pastors stir up the embers when their fire is burning low? Where do they go for fuel and inspiration? Here is what ten Mennonite pastors said when I asked them how they keep their ministry fresh and vital.

1. Make some form of spiritual discipline the top priority.
“Time alone with God is foundational,” says Jane Roeschly, and the others concur. A regular time of quiet prayer and meditation “helps keep me connected to God and in touch with what is happening to me,” says Murial Bechtel. But Paul Adams adds a cautionary note: “Spiritual disciplines can degenerate into empty, legalistic ritual.” The antidote is simply taking time to “enjoy God.”

2. Find time for playfulness and for cultivating the imagination.
It is important to have fun in ministry, to be silly, and to celebrate, Heidi Regier Kreider says. Reading novels and viewing movies are two ways some pastors stimulate the imagination. Jason Kuniholm says that it is even important to play with the congregation.

3. Seek honest, straightforward feedback.
“I have learned I’m never as honest with myself, or as selfaware as I think I am about my stresses, hidden resentments, and patterns of behavior,” says Tim Schrag. “Periodic ‘pushing’ by sources outside of myself is helpful.” Practically everyone mentioned the importance of pastoral peers, spiritual directors, or counselors to provide this outside perspective.

4. Pursue continuing education.
Workshops, symposia, and lectures help pastors to think about ministry and the life of the church in fresh ways. For Doug Klassen, continuing education is a guard against the mindset that “whatever works is truth.” Kuniholm mentioned that for him a form of continuing education is taking time each Friday to write down what he has learned that week.

5. Set clear boundaries.
“Guarding my time with my family and for self-care is important,” says Rod Stafford. Pastors need to remind themselves that ministry and its outcomes are ultimately God’s responsibility. Sally Schreiner Youngquist says that the best thing she can do is to “direct people back to God.” Pastors need to allow time for interests beyond ministry and the church – for nature, play, exercise, hobbies, recreational reading, and movies.

6. Take time to care for your self.
Taking care of one’s self may seem selfish, but it really is stewardship of the life and the gifts we have been given. Selfcare recognizes that “pastoral ministry is demanding and stressful work and that rest, renewal, and continuing education are absolutely essential for the long haul,” says Regier Kreider. Additionally, pastors who exercise good selfcare are modeling for others what is healthy and life giving.

Maintaining clear boundaries and exercising self-care doesn’t necessarily result in a refusing new challenges. For Beryl Jantzi, adding “new areas of involvement to my platter, be it from the conference or the community, keeps me fresh in my work.” The key is that when he adds something he also needs to let something else go, and to look “for ways to empower others to pick up things I have been doing that I no longer need to do.”

7. Plan for regular sabbaticals to sustain your ministry.
For Kuniholm, who took his third sabbatical this past summer, sabbaticals have provided rest, revision, and reflection, and have made it possible for him to stay at the same congregation for seventeen years. “Healthy pastors make for healthy congregations,” he says. Sabbaticals provide “distance to see things clearly and most importantly to take it easy and have fun.”

Going on sabbatical, adds Schreiner Youngquist, “modeled to my congregation that no one person is indispensable and that time apart can be valuable for anyone.” Sabbaticals can be self-defeating if they merely give an over-functioning pastor a chance to catch her breath so that she can go back and do even more. As Edwin Friedman advised in From Generation to Generation, sabbaticals and other breaks from ministry should address the systemic nature of stress by helping the pastor work at personal differentiation and set healthy boundaries.

A lingering benefit of sabbaticals for Bechtel is that they give her a place and time she can go back to in her mind when she is feeling the need for a quiet moment and emotional and spiritual solace.

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Keith Harder is Co-director of the Office of Ministerial Leadership for the Mennonite Church USA.