Dear Friends, Thanks for a great retreat. One thing I learned again is how hard we and our spouses work for the church and how we can encourage each other. This information was shared at our spouse retreat but bears repeating. (These facts come from Aldersgate Renewal Ministries.)
1,500 pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
90% of pastors work more than 46 hours a week, leading to burnout.
50% of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.
80% of pastors believe that pastoral ministry affect their families negatively.
80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role.
50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could.
80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave within the first 5 years.
70% of pastors constantly fight depression.
70% of pastors say they have a lower self-image now than when they started in the ministry.
61% of pastors admit that they have "few close friends."
How can you help?
Kathy
Granted ministry is hard. Really hard. The past 12 months have been our hardest yet (of ten years). But do we (pastors and family) not truly believe God?
ReplyDeleteIf we did, perhaps we would remember His words to us. He is our strength. He is our source. His is the living water. It is in Him we live and move and have our being.
Those very words ministers preach to the people day in and day out should be the ones that feed their spirits and those of their families to keep them whole while they shepherd a flock.
It's all about Him. We must sustain a personal relationship with Christ first or we will parch from thirst because we stepped out from beneath the living water He pours out. He never stops pouring out, for even us.
How can I help? I can love God first. Then my family. Then my calling, my ministry.
Dear Linda, Thanks so much. How can you help? Please keep commenting how you continue to sustain that deep connection to Christ. If you'd like to post an article, please email spouseconnect@google.com
ReplyDeleteGrace.
Thanks Kathy! I want to let you know how happy I am to have found this blog. Even though I'm in Alabama, I'm United Methodist too, and I feel connected. I think this is a really good thing you ladies have started.
ReplyDeleteDear Linda, Thanks for your comments. Helping other spouses feel more connected is what it's all about. Please email us at spouseconnect@google.com if you'd like to post something.
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