Replenishing Pastor Burnout
Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center has implemented a Pastor Care Program to help support spiritual caregivers who may be experiencing caregiver burnout.
What is burnout like for religious leaders?
The word caregiver has a fantastic German-like quality in that it is a compound word that clearly expresses the meaning. The definition is, within the word itself–a giver of care. Religious caregivers, along with ministers, rabbis, gurus, and monks, embody the characteristics of a caretaker as they provide direct care to those needing spiritual health.
How do religious leaders experience burnout?
Spiritual leaders provide care to those who have many different needs. A pastor's comfort during an illness can be essential for those with faith. Pastors may be caring for parishioners who are struggling while also tending to other obligations of being a pastor: attending and/or leading meetings, advising how members can work together, resolving conflicts among churchgoers, preparing a weekly service that is both inspirational and interesting, preparing sermons, and teaching lessons for small group studies.
It all takes work and can feel like it all piles up. Unlike a traditional 9am to 5pm job, a pastor can often find themselves never leaving work. Work occupies their thoughts throughout the day. Lacking spacious time, they may start to become irritated and weary.
This can lead to physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. To add to the exhaustion, they may also feel guilty admitting to feeling tired and worn down. The analogy that you cannot fill someone else’s teacup from an empty teapot aptly describes caregiver burnout. If your teapot is empty, it is time to pause to rest, relax, and fill your spiritual cup.
Before we list the 7 tips for rebalancing burnout symptoms, we want to list the details of our Pastor Care Program. Our hope is that many will participate in this offer to care for themselves, which is our way of saying thank you for caring for us.
“I had an older neighbor some years ago whose husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He had been her rock through the decades, and then he turned into sand that slipped through her fingers. Caring for him as his moods swung and his grasp of the present faded took a heavy toll. She was diagnosed with cancer in the midst of this, and her death came swiftly. She gave everything to her husband’s care and saved nothing for herself.
This scenario occurs in the lives of pastors, not just among their parishioners but also in their own lives. Caring for others without time for oneself has a cost, and it is too often that pastors believe that giving without receiving is what they are supposed to do and that God expects them to self-sacrifice.
On top of that is the inability to communicate honestly with colleagues for fear of being seen as a failure. The result is a sea of pastors treading water, barely keeping one nostril above the waves. Things could be different if pastors retreated to the mountains for rest and renewal. Jesus did it. Why don’t we?”
Pastor Care Program
We hope to provide a vital respite for our spiritual caregivers, a time to recharge and recenter and feed the spirit.
Enjoy a two-night stay at the Highlands Camp & Retreat Center in Allenspark, Colorado, free from November 2024 to February 2025. Bring a family member or two with you.
If you want to stay longer, it is just $50 for each additional night per room. We also offer this rate to all active and retired pastors of any denomination and people currently going through seminary (CP Learners) throughout the year.
Offer includes:
Up to two retreat center rooms for one or two nights free of charge. (space permitting)
Family members are welcome to attend.
Onsite meals are available for purchase, or bring your own. Microwaves and refrigerators are available. When making your reservation, please ask if meal service is available during your stay and purchase your meals when registering.
Bedding and linens are provided.
About Highlands Camp & Retreat Center
Highlands Presbyterian Camp and Retreat Center is in the peaceful Meeker Valley in Allenspark, Colorado, just 90 minutes from Denver International Airport. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains and the Roosevelt National Forest, the scenery alone is therapeutic and healing. While staying at Highlands, program participants can take hikes to get the blood pumping or stay inside and enjoy the view from the Retreat Center Lodge.
In and around the Retreat Center are many places for meditation and reflection, including several balconies, a small chapel, outdoor porch swings, a hilltop Vesper site, a lobby fireplace, and a meditative labyrinth.
Yet, how do you know if it’s time to pause and nurture the self? Use these 7 questions to help assess if you need time to replenish.
1. Burnout Scale
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being low and 10 being high, do you feel disengaged, stressed, and less effective in your role?
2. Noticing Physical Health
Do you notice physical strain? Perhaps it’s disrupted sleep, or are you neglecting personal health needs? Is setting personal boundaries to care for your physical health and well-being increasingly harder?
3. Noticing Mental Health
Being present for the needs of others can be emotionally draining. Are you noticing that others’ emotional stresses are landing in you more deeply and perhaps staying with you? Are you processing stress, sadness, and anxiety better or worse than you used to?
4. Sustaining Patience and Empathy
Do you notice that your patience, empathy, and compassion is less available to you than in times past?
5. Focus and Cognitive Function
Fatigue and stress can impair memory, attention, and decision-making skills. Do you notice that it’s harder to focus and remember things like you used to?
6. Setting a Positive Example
Pastors who model self-care set a positive example for the person they care for and others in their community, promoting a culture of self-care and mutual support. Could your community benefit from your modeling steps for mental wellness or burnout prevention?
7. Improving Life Satisfaction
Engaging in hobbies, personal interests, and social activities reminds pastors of their identities outside a primary role. Is your overall life satisfaction high? Or low?
