No Rest For the Holy: Clergy Burnout a Growing Concern

The reason for clergy and parishoners, the old faithful leaving the church is quite simple; they are not receiving the LOVE OF CHRIST in that building. God just loves us, all of us, all the time, He is OUR FATHER and He sent His only Son to die on the Cross for all of us, Shed His Blood on that Cross for us and was resurrected on the thrid day so we could have HIM in our lives, inside all of us so we could become like HIM. When you go to church and come away worse off for the experience, doubting GOD, wondering why you went there ,then you are in the wrong place-simple.

Good article, as far as it goes. Something not addressed in this article, however, is the clergy family. Clergy spouses and children are often treated as unpaid staff, and pressed into service doing everything from cleaning to secretarial work, especially as the volunteer base has dried up. Just imagine if your bankers family was expected to be at the bank whenever the doors were opened to count the money and answer the phones! That is exactly what clergy families do! Their vacations and family events are interrupted when the clergy has to return for a crisis in the congregation, they are often falling out of middle class due to decreased chruch giving, and they are, as always, under constant scrutiny. They are also stressed- out, lonely, and suffer from the same maladies as the clergy . Clergy families are the forgotten servants, as evidenced by their omission from this article.

As a cradle Catholic who has worked as a musician for the Church for 42 of my 54 years I am compelled to comment on this article. I do see the burn-out. It comes across loud and clear. If Mother Church would let the clergy do their job, that is to be our spiritual leaders. Instead we have clergy run their own little kingdom here on earth. My church, which is very soon to become my ex-church, should be growing. Instead I see members leaving on a weekly basis to go to other denominations. I will be one of them. The Church and it's leaders have caused me more mental and emotional harm than anyone or anything in my life. Yes, some do join Mother Church but the numbers are few. The United States Council of Catholic Bishops may have us think otherwise but they let us know only what they want us to know. There is still secrecy. Parishioners of a Catholic Faith Community have absolutely no say. Yes, we have the Finance Committee, the Pastoral Council and the Strategic Plannic Committee...the list goes on ad infinitum. They all just make suggestions based on intelligent research and resources BUT the Pastor has the final say, right or wrong. Parishioners also have no say in whom will be assigned to a particular parish. Some priests are better suited for a particular type of parish yet they are sent to parishes where they are out of the loop regarding heritage and ritual. During the last century we had the foreign born Irish. This century we have the Africans. Sure African seminaries are overflowing as were the Irish. What easier way to live a life of luxury verses poverty. Diocesan priests do NOT take a vow of poverty as order priests do. I know many diocesan priests who retire a millionaires. Even today I know of Bishop's who are chauffered around in limousines. Do they deserve it? Well I guess so just as a CEO of a major secular institution would. The difference is the clergy are supposed to represent Christ. I doubt that Christ would be chauffered in a limousine if He were here today. Religion has just become another big business. The difference is the product. In the secular corporate world the product might be shoes or securities. In the sacred corporate world our product is supposed to be God's Word. Finally, those of you who think there isn't a corporate ladder within Mother Church, you are sadly uninformed. Christ's Church will live on, but it will do so because of the small minority of priests who not only talk the talk but walk the walk and because of the Faithful. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Boy , does this hit home with ,me !!!!! Clergy work for the Lord is not as glamourous as people think it is ! Many people tell me they envy me . I tell them , be careful what you pray for ! Being an Overseer for 19 years , has really taken it,s toll on me . But , in the past 5 years , I too have stepped out of the pulpit . Now , I reach many souls in a different way , that is still pleasing to God . I am not as stressed , burnt out , etc . If I do find my self starting to get burnt out , etc . I quickly shut my self down !! People will run you ragged if you let them . God wants us to take care of our selves , 10 times more then we take care of others ! My prayer is that congregations will stop and think before they bring clergy every little problem they have , with out going to the Lord for themselves first . God hears their prayers , just like HE hears ours .
Peace and blessings to all clergy every where . : )

one does not need to look much further than the negative and hateful comments posted here to realize why clergy are depressed burned out and have health problems. maybe there should be a filter so that only people who participate in their own faith life would have a right to comment! not All religious groups have visible wealth nor do most local churches have piles of money, yet week after week ordinary people who have need for someone to help them pay their rent or feed their children come looking for compassionate help from the churches and other religious organizations -- and they get it, straight from the pockets of faithful, generous hard-working ordinary people who have chosen to combine human kindness and faith. So how much have you bitter angry religion-hating people contributed to relief for Haiti, Tennessee's flooding, the gulf coast and your local food bank? the church isn't perfect.my adduce: put our money where your mouth is. we do.

Gibson's No Rest for the Holy, had something missing--no claims of Divine comfort from the Most High. Jesus said, "Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted." The mourners are those who repent of their sins and give their lives to serve God, thus missing out on many earthly pleasures that some people call sin. Will not God compensate them in many ways? Over worked pastors may work smarter, instead of harder by seeking other members of the congregation to share the burdens as volunteers. Delegation is the key to avoiding burnout.

YOU CAN SAY ALL OF THAT AGAIN! Some clergy are able to serve in parishes close to family. I was not able to do this. Two things in particular are sources of stress. My relationship with my family of origin suffered from distance. The "family" holidays that others plan were never a possibility for me. so after 30+ years of ministry i realize that i don't know them nor they me in the way that we all thought would be possible in earlier years. the second major stress in protestant denominations is that when churches decline and money doesn't stretch to meet rising costs, it is the clergy persons family that increases already sacrificial giving. Even so, clergy take pay cuts that get passed on to their spouses and children. In the end it is also the pastor who tends to be blamed for the lack of money, (poor performance, etc.) and it is the pastor who may find oneself unemployed, and without a safety net when a congregation grows too small or closes. congregations have a lot of power.

Good Catholics are facing poverty and hunger while the Vatican sits on billions of dollars worth of treasure, art and collectibles bought with the donations of the faithful. Have you ever seen a hungry priest?
They did have one good idea though, if you can't beat them, outnumber them. Why else are they so opposed to birth control?

I am proud of what those men and women are doing with thier lives. They are living as human sacrifices to show the wolrd how much they care about God and humanity. As human beings we all make mistakes and are not perfect.

Rather than mock and ridicule these brave people, we should give them their due respect. For the most part, they aren't filling thier bodies with drugs, alcohol or every type of sexually transmitted disease known (and unknown) to man. If more people could show some restraint with thier flesh, we woudn't have drug addiction clincs, abortion clinics, AA meetings, prisons, detox centers, MADD, cirrhosis of the liver, dialated cardio myopthies, divorces, homicides, teenage suicides, crack and meth heads.

Those brave men and women of the cloth have my respect.

I'm glad I got my original post off before reading some of the other comments. I was right. There are many, many people who are just too angry, bored or bitter to give any credit whatsoever to many Catholic priests who have little or no contact with the Vatican, don't abuse children or adults and try their best to offer their services to the faithful. To demonize all of them or glue them to a truly ugly chapter in Catholicism is unfair and, in my opinion, will shorten the lives of many of them through stress that causes high blood pressure, heart disease and other killers. You don't need to be Catholic to be spiritual. No organized religion has a monopoly on spirituality or good works. Good people try to do good things for others. It's as simple as that. Whatever our occupation or calling, we all deserve the benefit of the doubt.