An e-friend asked these questions:

1) In your experience, what seems to be the number one reason for stress?

Unresolved childhood issues.

2) How can the church/spirituality help someone deal with stress and burn out?

By removing the locus of worth from ‘what I do well compared with how my peers do it’ to who I am inherently – an unrepeatable miracle of God’s creation, loved by God infinitely.

3) How can a Christian woman take advantage of her church/spiritual community in helping her with stress/tasks?

Find a prayer-partner / creative listener, and meet regularly. Debrief with a skilled pastoral counsellor regularly.

4) What advice or counsel would you give someone who has too much on their plate?

Do a reality-check with a skilled counsellor, and find out why their sense of self-worth is linked too much with what they do.

5) What advice would you give to someone who feels guilty saying “no”?

Read the Cloud and Townsend ‘Boundaries’ books, and put it all into practice (accountable wo someone).

6) Please list your professional title and affiliation.

Director, John Mark Ministries, serving pastors and church leaders and their spouses. Affiliation: the whole church (though ordained a Baptist in Australia!).

Thank you so much for your advice. I’ll be pleased to share the article with you once it’s complete.

Thanks.

If there is anything else you’d like to add, please do.

Put ‘stress’ ‘burnout’ (without the quotes) into the various search instruments on our website!

Take care,

____

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher