Charles Chandler, founder of the Ministering to Ministers Foundation, gives five suggestions of pastoral self-care.
• Develop an informal feedback group within the congregation. Pastors should choose just a few that they can trust and whom other members talk to. Pastors should sit down with each individually to ask what each one thinks and what others are thinking. “You can’t be defensive and you can’t share your guts with this group,” Chandler said.
• Become part of a ministers’ support group. “It helps you stay in touch with reality,” he said.
• Find a therapist. Chandler was quick to point out that, while a pastor likely would not need to talk to a therapist often, a professional can help the minister walk through a difficult time.
• Choose an attorney. Again, having an attorney available doesn’t insinuate or predict trouble. “But an attorney can be objective and provide some coaching,” he said.
• Develop friendships outside the church. “This especially provides an outlet for spouses,” he noted.
— Vicki Brown