Bob Burns - Resilient Ministry: What Pastors Told Us about Surviving and Thriving

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Ephesians 4:12

God has called us to ministry. But its not enough to have a vision for ministry if you dont have the practical skills for it. Nor is it enough to do the work of ministry if what you do is headed in the wrong direction. We need both vision and expertise for effective ministry. We need praxis.

Praxis puts theory into practice. It brings cutting-edge ministry expertise from visionary practitioners. Youll find sound biblical and theological foundations for ministry in the real world, with concrete examples for effective action and pastoral ministry. Praxis books are more than the how to theyre also the why to. And because being is every bit as important as doing, Praxis attends to the inner life of the leader as well as the outer work of ministry. Feed your soul, and feed your ministry.

If you are called to ministry, you know you cant do it on your own. Let Praxis provide the companions you need to equip Gods people for life in the kingdom.

www.ivpress.com/ praxis

Resilient Ministry

What Pastors Told Us About Surviving and Thriving

Bob Burns, Tasha D. Chapman and Donald C. Guthrie

An imprint of InterVarsity Press

Downers Grove, Illinois

www.IVPress.com/ books

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400
Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com
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2013 by Bob Burns, Tasha D. Chapman and Donald C. Guthrie

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

While all stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Design: Cindy Kiple

ISBN 978-0-8308-6461-4 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-4103-5 (print)

Bob Burns (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is the dean of lifelong learning and associate professor of education ministries at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He is also ordained in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as associate pastor at Crossroads Presbyterian Fellowship.

Tasha D. Chapman (Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate dean of lifelong learning and adjunct professor of educational ministries at Covenant Seminary.

Donald C. Guthrie (Ph.D., University of Georgia) is professor of educational ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.

Guthrie has a broad range of past experience serving the university sphere over the years as campus minister, vice president for academics, and director of several university programs and conferences.

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Life in Pastoral Ministry

When do pastors receive mentoring and pastoral care?
Where do pastors pursue learning and growth?
How do pastors stay current in our rapidly changing world?

A few years ago, Bob was sitting with a small group of pastors who were meeting together for the first time. In the midst of a lively conversation about ministry life, one pastor made the following comment:

I dont have anybody that I open up to about my life, my family or my ministry. I feel like a guy who is driving over the speed limit on a narrow mountain road without barriers. Its the grace of God I havent driven off.

People hear pastors preach on Sunday morning and assume they have their lives together. But most of us dont understand what pastors think, feel and experience week by week. Take, for example, the pastor quoted above. A few years after he said this, Bob quoted him (anonymously) at a ministry gathering in this pastors hometown. Afterward, an elder from this pastors church came up to Bob. With his pastor standing behind him, the elder said, Do you know what I remember from your presentation? It was that comment made by some pastor who said he didnt have anyone to talk to. I sure am glad it isnt that way in our church. Our pastor can really share with us.

His pastor and Bob exchanged knowing glances, sharing the secret that the words were his own. From our research, we have found those words to be true for most pastors. People in ministry rarely feel understood and seldom have anyone with whom they can openly talk about their experiences.

What Enables Pastoral Resilience?

A denominational official recently made the following statement: So many pastors today leave the church. Often they leave the ministry altogether. What does it take for pastors to remain fruitful in ministry for a lifetime? This person was overwhelmed by the statistics of pastors leaving the ministry and by stories of people struggling with the idea of staying in the pastorate.

Ministry leadership is a tough but highly rewarding job. Many pastors love the challenge, but most find it much more difficult than they had anticipated. Some wonder what they have gotten themselves into. Like a recent seminary graduate who shared with dismay, I never expected the church to be like this. Or a pastor of eighteen years who confided, My experience in the ministry has been good. But I question whether I can subject my wife and family to this much longer.

We probably qualify as ministry survivors. Bob has been involved in the church as a volunteer and a pastor for over forty years. Donald has served as a ruling elder in several local churches during the past twenty-five years. Tasha has been active in the church as a leader and staff member for over two decades. In addition, all of us train people for vocational ministry leadership.

Lilly Endowment, Inc., an Indiana-based foundation concerned about the health of the church, has been exploring this question of pastoral resilience for years. In one of their initiatives, called Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, the endowment invested over $84 million to support sixty-three projects that explore what it takes to thrive in ministry. The three of us have coordinated one of these grants, running research and facilitating continuing education for pastors designed to find some answers to this perplexing problem of pastoral survival.