Ministers affirm hope as key to dealing with stress & burnout

By Stella Anderson

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)–Dec. 1, 1995, is a day Len Turner will
never forget. It was the day his world came tumbling down around
him.

As pastor of a leading Southern Baptist church in south Georgia,
the 48-year-old pastor seemed to be on top of the world. Under his
leadership, the congregation was seeing hundreds of lost people
saved, membership had quadrupled and they were breaking every
record in baptisms and giving. Turner’s ministry success was one
many pastors only dream of.

But on that winter day three years ago, without warning, Turner
gave it all up and walked out the church doors. His abrupt actions
shocked his church, family and fellow pastors and quickly resulted
in unfounded rumors of scandal and misconduct. Eventually the truth
of his departure revealed that the pastor who seemed to have it all
on the outside was falling apart on the inside, a consequence of
ministry burnout, exhaustion and stress.

Turner shared his walk through crisis and God’s ultimate direction
for his life with more than 110 Arkansas Baptist pastors, staff and
family members, many of whom have walked in similar shoes. The
“Strength Under Stress” conference held Jan. 11 at Parkway Place
Baptist Church in Little Rock was sponsored by the Arkansas Baptist
State Convention and LifeWay Christian Resources’ LeaderCare
program.

During this first-time meeting, Turner and state convention
Executive Director Emil Turner reminded conference participants
that hope is the central factor in stress and potential burnout in
ministry, the theme of the one-day meeting. Brooks Faulkner and
Tommy Yessick of LeaderCare offered tips and suggestions for
confronting and preventing burnout and stress. LifeWay President
James T. Draper Jr., the scheduled keynote speaker, was not able to
attend the event due to personal illness.

Bruce Swihart, leader of the ABSC’s leadership and worship team,
called the meeting an “opportunity for Arkansas pastors, directors
of missions and staff to receive wise counsel in dealing with
stress and problems that arise in ministry.” He added “there are
many things we all are going to have to face; it’s life and we must
learn to deal with it.”

Affirming the event “really touched on points of felt need in the
lives of ministers,” Swihart said the conference also “offered them
assistance in these areas.”

During his testimony, Len Turner explained the days following his
exit from the ministry were ones he would never have fathomed in
his wildest dreams.

He shared that his family and friends persuaded him to admit
himself into a Christian health facility. His hospitalization
resulted in a diagnosis of severe stress, burnout, excessive
compulsive disorder and deep personal insecurities. Doctors told
him he would need long-term counseling and medical help and could
not preach or work for at least a year.

“My doctors said God must really have loved me a lot, because they
didn’t know how I had made it this far,” Turner noted. “They told
me I was really sick and that the ball was in my court and only I
could decide to let God help me.”

Turner took his doctors’ advice and looked to the only One who
could offer him hope. “I turned it all over to God and asked him to
forgive me that it took this to get my attention. I wanted a
thorough and complete healing,” he shared. “I thought it was all
over and finished but God said no. He worked a miracle of nurturing
and healing.”

Speaking from his past experiences, Turner reminded the audience
God never stops loving and providing for his own. “I’d preached it
for years, but didn’t know it personally.”

Noting ministers must also learn the real value of family and
friends, he emphasized it also is important to remember “when God
calls you, he never withdraws that call. If God calls you, you
don’t have anything to prove but only be approved by the One who
made that call.”

Turner warned the audience not to let personal pride, like his, get
in the way of admitting problems. He urged them to seek God’s
guidance and ask for help from fellow ministers during hard times.

“Don’t go over the edge or even to the edge but to God and godly
men who can help,” he urged. “Jesus paid the price to take us out
of it. He’s greater than all problems. Take it to him and he will
bring ones to encourage and help you.”

Conference participants were given the opportunity to gather in
small groups to share their stories and offer strategies to assist
in dealing with stress and burnout. At the conclusion of the
session, several in the audience voiced advice they found helpful.

During his address, Emil Turner reminded participants that
although everyone faces the storms of life, God is still in
control. “It’s these storms that will make us better seamen or
take us to the bottom,” he said.

Citing John 6 where Jesus calmed the storm that his disciples faced
while at sea, Turner noted storms often come when least expected.
Like the disciples who had “just experienced one of the most
memorable times in their ministry of feeding the 5,000, we often
will see storms during times when your church is booming and
growing.”

Storms, he said, also are often accompanied by darkness and arise
when individuals are doing exactly what God has called them to do.
He added that other waves of life occur because of sin and Satan’s
“desire to stir up and have a negative impact on seeing lost people
be saved.”

As a former pastor, Turner offered several suggestions for
weathering the storms:

— Cultivate kindness to those in storms because they could one
day be allies.

— Recognize storms can be a result of our own actions.

— Remember that storms don’t last forever.

— Become a student of storms.

— Remember God always comes through the storms.

Faulkner told the group “forced termination” continues to be a real
problem, only a small percentage of which has been a result of
immorality. Seeking to help reduce the problem of forced
terminations, he shared examples for confronting situations and
issues that likely will arise in ministry. Noting getting one’s way
is not always the answer, he encouraged ministers to discover
alternatives to bailing out. Pointing out that criticism is
inevitable and anger can be a killer, he emphasized a quick fix
does not always lead to long-term healing.

Faulkner also offered a prescription to avoid termination. He said
the medication includes laughter, friendships, childlikeness,
recreation and spending time with God. “Like Jesus, we must
constantly go away to get perspective and guidance,” he said.

Yessick, a LeaderCare wellness specialist and consultant, shared
several tips for managing stress. He said effective stress
management can be accomplished by “nurturing the emotional,
physical and vocational well-being,” adding that “it was not the
straw that broke the camel’s back; it was the load he was already
carrying.”

Several conference participants reported they found the meeting
beneficial and uplifting. Others have requested that state
convention leaders offer similar events on the associational level.

“Stress and burnout are a part of ministry,” noted Bill Hillburn,
pastor of Bingham Road Baptist Church, Little Rock. “This was a
chance for us as pastors to come together with others who have been
in similar situations and hear their experiences.”

“Stress is a matter of life, a lot of which is self-imposed and
must be dealt with,” said David Ard, pastor of Olivet Baptist
Church, Little Rock. “As we were informed, we needed to come apart
before we came apart.”

Managing stress easy as ‘ABC,’ Yessick says

By Staff

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)–In today’s fast-paced society, confronting
stress and the potential for burnout is an everyday fact of life.
Pastors, ministers and their families are no exception, each facing
the pressures and burdens of life unique to their work and
ministry.

This dilemma “should not be ignored,” Tommy Yessick, a wellness
specialist with LifeWay Christian Resources’ LeaderCare told a
group of Arkansas Baptists attending the recent “Strength Under
Stress” conference in Little Rock.

Noting throughout the Bible, “God informs us to be of good health
and to love him with all of our body, soul and mind, ” he
emphasized individuals should take measures to keep physically,
mentally and spiritually fit.

An important aspect in achieving this goal, he said, is learning to
manage and control “stressors that we all face,” adding that “it’s
as simple as ‘ABC.'”

Yessick offered the following “ABC’s” of coping with stress:

— A: Alter (remove the source), avoid (remove yourself) and
accept (equip yourself).

— B: Build resistance (choose to impact your quality of life).

— C: Change (nurture emotional, physical and vocational
well-being).

“The greatest resource a pastor can have is a healthy self and
family,” Yessick said. “Out of that will come successful ministry.”

The Baptist Press http://www.BaptistPress.org/