If you’re a pastor and you’re feeling overworked and overwhelmed - it’s not just you. We’re revisiting a few clips from our Clergy Burnout podcast series that talk about how pastors are overworked and under supported - and how congregations and denominations can change that.

You’ll hear some words from Kate Rae Davis, Rose Madrid Swetman, Dr. Jessica Young Brown, and Anne Helen Petersen. If you want to listen further, you can get the links to these full episodes on our website at transformingengagement.org/podcast

This week, we’re sharing some of our favorite insightful moments from Season 2 of the Transforming Engagement podcast. These clips dive into two of the leading causes of clergy burnout: politics and the pandemic.

In this mini-episode, you’ll hear wise words from Elizabeth Riley, Anne Helen Petersen, Lisa Sharon Harper, Rose Madrid Swetman, and Justin White. You can get the links to these full episodes on our website at transformingengagement.org/podcast

These clips from Season 2 of Transforming Engagement, The Podcast, explore some of the pressures that lead to clergy burnout and how to recognize the symptoms of burnout in your mind and body.

One of the leading causes of pressure, frustration, and burnout for pastors is a bad theology of self-sacrifice. In this mini-episode, you’ll hear wise words from Rose Madrid Swetman, Mandy Smith, Lisa Sharon Harper, and Kate Rae Davis. You can get the links to these full episodes on our website at transformingengagement.org/podcast

In this final episode of our Clergy Burnout series, co-hosts Kate Rae Davis, MDiv, and Rose Madrid Swetman, DMin, revisit the many rich conversations they’ve had with our guests this season. 

In these conversations, we heard new perspectives, learned new things, and confirmed so much of the research that’s out there right now on clergy burnout. It’s real. It’s present. We hope that this has been a space where pastors and clergy will feel seen and known. For those of you who are not pastors but perhaps are part of a faith community or congregation, we hope these conversations have given you a greater understanding and empathy for the leaders in your faith community, and prompt questions as to how we can support these faithful leaders. 

What’s next? We invite you to join us in our fall session of Way of Life, which focuses on small shifts in our daily rhythms to bring more purpose, intention, and mindfulness to our lives as we lean into our calling. Enrollment is open through September 30, 2022 on our website at transformingengagement.org/online-courses 

You can also explore our other online courses: 

In Centering Prayer, you can learn to intentionally cultivate a richer prayer life and relationship with the Divine.

In Career & Call, you’ll learn a process of discovery and discernment that you can use over and over again in making life decisions both now and in the future as it relates to your calling.

In this episode of our Clergy Burnout series, we’re joined by Lisa Sharon Harper, founder and president of Freedom Road, which helps organizations in multiple sectors do justice. She's a speaker, writer, and most recently the author of Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World. She also hosts the Freedom Road podcast and co-hosts The FOUR podcast.

Co-hosted by Kate Rae Davis, MDiv, and Rose Madrid Swetman, this episode digs into the systemic and cultural norms that have influenced the roles of our pastors. Lisa begins by defining the role of a pastor, which she says is to “not only to help us to connect with God on a personal level, but to help us all to understand our relationship with God and how that needs to impact our relationship with each other and the rest of creation.” If our pastors can truly focus on protecting the image of God, particularly in the “least of these” in our communities - and if we, as congregants, will support them in doing so - then many of the pressures that lead to burnout could be abated. 

In this conversation, Lisa invites us to consider the impacts of a Western version of Christianity and reimagine what the Kingdom of God truly looks like, starting with honoring and defending the image of God in all humans.

Each episode, we’re asking our guest to highlight an organization that is doing good work. This week, Lisa calls our attention to several organizations:

Red Letter Christians

Justice Revival

Be the Bridge *

Christians for Social Action *

In this episode of our Clergy Burnout series, we’re joined by a panel of three individuals who have recently left the pastorate. Karlene Clark, Trevor Grindle, and Martha Wood vulnerably share their experience with burnout and the pressures that ultimately led to them choosing to walk away from their leadership roles. 

Co-hosted by Kate Rae Davis, MDiv, and Rose Madrid Swetman, this discussion explores themes of doubt, grief, illness, and trauma, and the incongruity that is felt when encountering very real, human experiences while trying to live up to the expectations of a church leadership role.

We hope that this is a space where pastors and clergy will feel seen and known. For those of you who are not pastors but perhaps are part of a faith community or congregation, we hope these conversations will be enlightening and give you a greater understanding and empathy for the leaders in your community, and prompt questions as to how we can support these faithful leaders. 

In this episode of our Clergy Burnout series, we’re joined by writer and journalist Anne Helen Petersen, to take a look at clergy burnout through systemic and cultural perspectives.

Co-hosted by Kate Rae Davis, MDiv, and Rose Madrid Swetman, this discussion centers around the warning signs of burnout and the potential impact that addressing burnout - or letting it go unnoticed - can have on pastors and their communities. We discuss practical ways that pastors can foster greater awareness and care for their own physical and mental health, and how congregants can also grow in awareness to step in and support their pastors. 

We hope that this is a space where pastors and clergy will feel seen and known. For those of you who are not pastors but perhaps are part of a faith community or congregation, we hope these conversations will be enlightening and give you a greater understanding and empathy for the leaders in your community, and prompt questions as to how we can support these faithful leaders. 

Each episode, we’re asking our guest to highlight an organization that is doing good work. This week, Anne points us to Mutual Aid, which are grassroots, local organizations committed to freely providing funds and resources to community members in need. Find your local Mutual Aid by typing “Mutual Aid (your city)” in your search engine.

In this episode of our Clergy Burnout series, we’re joined by a panel of three clergy members to discuss the challenges they are facing in their current contexts and what keeps them going. 

You’ll hear different vantage points but common challenges: How do I continue to show up for my community, stay true to the Gospel, and stay true to who I am called to be?

We’re grateful to our guests, Rev. Justin White, Rev. Elizabeth Riley, and Rev. Donnell T. Wyche, as they vulnerably share their perspectives with us. 

In this episode of our Clergy Burnout series, we’re joined by Mandy Smith, pastor and author. Mandy talks about the importance of limitations in ministry. Co-hosted by Kate Rae Davis, MDiv, and Rose Madrid Swetman, this discussion provides special insight into the ways that female church leaders in particular may be subject to additional pressures in their profession that can lead to defensiveness or exhaustion. However, the conversation always comes back to the hope, grace, and rest to which God is calling us.

We hope that this is a space where pastors and clergy will feel seen and known. For those of you who are not pastors but perhaps are part of a faith community or congregation, we hope these conversations will be enlightening and give you a greater understanding and empathy for the leaders in your community, and prompt questions as to how we can support these faithful leaders. 

Each episode, we’re asking our guest to highlight an organization that is doing good work. This week, we invite you to learn more about BLOC Ministries, a neighborhood organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a myriad of offerings to their local community including art programs, sports training, a jail ministry, and youth homes. BLOC was created to build connections and safe spaces for students, families and adults to thrive and succeed in spite of difficult circumstances. They are a faith-based non-profit that focuses on healthy, personal relationships and activities that help to build hope, purpose, and vital life skills. You can learn more at http://www.onebloc.org/