I just read a great article by Wayne Cordiero in Rev! Magazine. The title is the same as his recent book, Leading on Empty. Leadership Network is forming Leadership Communities of Senior Pastors in three distinct age stages. I direct what we call Next Chapter, which is a community of Senior Pastors in their 50's who are leading in churches of over 3,000 in attendance. I have interviewed just over 20 of these leaders. One of the questions that I ask of all of them is what would interest them in being a part of a community of their peers. Several of them have commented to me that they would like to talk about things like balancing a busy schedule, how to avoid burnout, and how to navigate through crucibles of life.
I really appreciate the transparency and honesty of Wayne Cordiero in addressing his personal experience with burnout. I don't know if it is inevitable that successful pastors experience burnout, but it must be comforting to know that there are both ways to avoid it and principles for recovering from it. Cordiero deals with both. Here are just a few of the gems that really jumped off the page as I read this article:
"I have the same amount of energy as before, but not the same longevity. I used to go without a break for a year or more before fatiguing. But no longer. Now I have the same energy level, but it doesn't last as long. My error was not that I fatigued at three months, but that I'd keep running for another two before I took a break."
"Each morning I intentionally make time to do my devotions. It is one devoted and uninterrupted hour in which I sit at God's feet, read a certain amount of passages, and write in my life journal. It's a time when God refreshes my soul and recalibrates anything that is out of kilter. It is not a time when I study the Bible. It's a time when I let the Bible study me. It is a time to scrub my heart, motives, and soul."
"Schedule rests in before your calendar fills up. Rest is not an afterthought; it has to be a primary responsibility. It brings a rhythm back to life and a cadence that makes life sustainable. If you're tired, your soul gets weary. And if your soul gets weary, you've depleted more than you can afford."
Hopefully this has whetted your appetite to either read the article or like me, you are going to purchase the book.
For information on Leadership Network's Life Stage Leadership Communities contact:
Linda Stanley: NextGen Pastors (Senior Pastors Under the age of 40)
Richard Petty: Senior Pastors in their 40's
Don Wilcox: Next Chapter (Senior Pastors in their 50's)
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