Pastoral Ministry isn't for the faint of heart...
Someone once likened becoming a pastor or minister to suddenly dropping into an organization as its Vice President or CEO without having worked your way up to that position from either experience, or demonstrated performance at lower organizational levels; the necessary skill-set and responsibilities were sudden, huge, and largely untested!

And that's not far off, is it?  I mean, you were no doubt encouraged to attend seminary because some aspect of your giftedness was seen by the church as a great fit for pastoral ministry, and you (perhaps enthusiastically, perhaps even reluctantly) had to agree. The process further confirmed your call to that vocation, and it was full steam ahead.
Along the way, however, you discovered that there were other expectations as well (real, or imagined)...like being good, or even excellent at: 
  • Preaching and teaching
  • Grief counseling
  • Budget development
  • Cultural exegesis
  • Pre-marital, marriage and family counseling
  • Long range facilities planning
  • Conflict management with individuals and groups
  • Having a solid grasp of "systems" dynamics
  • Capital campaigns
  • Staff development and management
  • Creating work improvement plans
  • Community relations
  • Vision casting
  • Being cool with working more than full time
  • Compelling people out of comfort zones
  • Being conversant in change theory
  • Hospital and home visition
  • The ability to inspire sacrificial giving
  • Having an exemplary family
  • Incredible tenacity and courage
  • The gift of evangelism
  • Multi-generational communication skills and appeal
  • Crisis counseling
  • A smile to accompany all of the above
  • ...and more
Sound familiar? 
It's no wonder that pastor burnout is at such high levels!

On top of that, you have the privilege/challenge of working with other leaders in the church who want to do well in their role, but also struggle with some of the same things. You need them, they need you, and the whole church needs you working well together. SoundCoaching & Consulting is here to help! 



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