Ministry Stress

Ministry = Stress

My blog is not usually pointed to a group of people but today's musing will apply to those in youth ministry more than those who aren't. But all are welcome to read and comment. If you are in youth ministry and this blog doesn't apply to you sorry for wasting your time.

I just finished reading an article by Christopher T. Marchand, one of his titles is Assistant Professor of Youth Leadership at Providence College and Seminary in Manitoba. His article is in the Journal of Youth Ministry.
The Article is called Secondary Traumatic Stress: Recognizing the Unique Risks For Youth Ministry.
In his article Marchand defines Secondary Traumatic Stress and how it is related to Post Traumatic Stress and how it is different than burnout.
I am going to use Marchand's article as a jumping off point for my thoughts today. I don't want it to sound like a book report because then you would all have to grade it.

One quote that stuck out to me in the article was, "there is a cost to caring". As a pastor I thrive on caring, it energizes me, helping people through crisis gives me a feeling of worth and value. Being that person who stands in the gap and brings people through a traumatic experience is what I live for. The point made here is there is still a cost. There is a cost to my health and family. I may feel energized but through helping I may be emotionally drained, mentally exhausted.

What this article hits on, if I am helping someone with an incredibly traumatic situation, I could experience Secondary Traumatic Stress. This is different than burnout defined in the article as, “Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment, that can occur among individuals who do people work of some kind."Marchand says that a symptomatic homogeny exists between STS and burnout, which correct me if I am wrong that they look the same on the outside.

All I could think of reading this section was the words of Christ. Luke 14:28 -30
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

How many of us enter into ministry thinking it is going to be great and that we will change the world. People will listen to us. My youth in Calgary made sure to tell me how slack my job was. I think they were doing it in fun. The perception for them was Greg has this great fun job. How many of us go into ministry the same way countries went into World War I. We will kick butt and be home by Christmas.

How many of us really experience Luke 14:34?
34"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Seriously I thought in Bible School that I was part of this machine that would change the world. That God was really going to do something special with me and that I was going to be a hero of the faith.

I was so naive. I can't count how many times I have wanted to quit ministry. How I have asked God, "How stupid are you for picking me?"The point I want to make, is the one Jesus made we expect that because we are doing it for Jesus it will end happily ever after. Tell that to the Apostle Paul who bemoans to Timothy that everyone has left him. Or John the Baptist who in prison wonders if Jesus really is the Messiah. Ministry on any level whether as a Pastor with a title or volunteer, servant, Westjet Christian has a cost to it. It isn't all ice cream and lollipops and that some of our best energies or efforts will produce nothing that we can feel good about.

I think this post is getting a little long winded, like the Pastor of my church, just kidding had to say it. So I will touch on one more thing that Marchand said in his article.

He gave 4 significant reasons why people who work with the traumatized might encounter STS.
1. Empathy
2. Personal Trauma History
3. Unresolved Trauma Material
4. Children and Trauma

To me this is the essence of being a youth pastor. Any good youth pastor has empathy. Most people breathing have a personal trauma history, deep wounds from our lives, which have shaped us. Unresolved Trauma youth pastors function as MASH units, a lot of time we are dealing with teens who are in the middle of trauma and we don’t always see the end. Finally children and trauma, it doesn't seem fair to watch kids and teens suffer. I have heard myself say dealing with families in trauma, that no one that young should ever have to deal with …. And yet they do. The voice of Rev Lovejoy's wife from the Simpsons cries out in any situation, "Think of the children"
We can get emotionally and spiritually drained, not because we are sinning or not doing our job, but as a result of doing our job well. I think one of the real reasons that Jesus went into solitary times of prayer was to debrief.

There is a cost to ministry to continue touching lives we must realize this, how is your support network? When you have dealt with trauma do you debrief? Do you meet with other pastors to talk, pray and recharge. Do you take a couple more hours/days off after dealing with trauma or do you play catch up with all the work you missed dealing with the crisis? For my denomination we have the best kept secret. This is from the PAOC website.
Ministers Helpline
In cooperation with Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, eleven other denominations and PAOC district offices have commissioned Focus on The Family to establish an all-Canadian counseling helpline. This is private, confidential, anonymous counseling and referrals for ministers and their families.
This is completely confidential and free for our PAOC pastors. What a great resource to use the next time you deal with a trauma. Go to http://www.paoc.ca/ and follow the links.