Have you lost your energy? Is it harder to get things done? Do you struggle focusing on others and showing empathy? We all go through seasons of pouring ourselves out, but how do you know when you’ve more than just tired? In this episode, I am going to unpack my working definition of burnout and share a few signs that might indicate there’s more going on than just you being tired.

Working Definition of Burnout

"Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.”

Here are some signs that you are more than tired:

• Anger
• Bitterness, resentment
• Blaming everyone else for why you’re struggling
• Don’t really care about the outcomes…(different than caring but...

Compassion fatigue is a reality for many caregivers in ministry. In this episode I sit down with Laura Howe from Hope Made Strong as she shares her insights and strategies on how you can tell if compassion fatigue is affecting you and what you can do about it.

Laura defines compassion fatigue as "the physical and mental erosion, the wearing down, of your hope, empathy, and compassion." It is something that develops overtime and can compromise our compassion for others as well as ourselves.

Compassion fatigue is not a sin, failure, or weakness. It is a result of being a caring person and doing good work. It shows up when we haven't had the opportunity to refuel.

Resources from Laura

10 Signs Your Experiencing Compassion Fatigue

7 Keys to Build Resilience

More About Laura:

Laura loves to equip you and your ministry team as you support and care for others in your community. Founder of Hope Made Strong and the Church Mental Health Summit Laura is a mental health clinician and community...

Have you considered quitting ministry?

If you have, you’re not alone. There are many pastors and ministry leaders who are considering whether or not it is time to go.

A 2013 study from the Schaefer Institute reported that 1700 pastors leave the ministry each month, citing depression, burnout, or being overworked as the primary reasons. In 2019 a summary of surveys from Fuller Institute, Barna and Pastoral Care Inc. showed that 1500 clergy leave pastoral ministry every month. And just last week I saw a church leadership expert take a poll asking, “have you considered quitting in the last 14 months?” And a resounding 77% answered, “yes!”

Thousands of pastors around the United States and around the world are ready to quit.

If you are one of those people, what should you do?

• Remember that God loves you apart from what you do for Him, so if you quit, He will still love you completely!!!
• Sometimes when you feel like you want to quit, you really don't want...

What do you do if you are burned out in ministry? If ministry has wounded you, if you’re running on empty, if you are flat-out spent...what happens now? Do you quit? Do you just suck it up buttercup? What’s next? What are your options?

We rarely talk about this.

We seldom have honest and open conversations about what can happen to you in ministry if you aren’t careful, let alone, what to do if you are falling off the edge of the cliff. I’m not sure why burnout and fatigue are taboo subjects and virtually ignored.

The fact is, we’re human. We have our limits. God made us that way. We don’t have to be afraid of our limitations.  We don’t have to fear our need to stop, and yet we keep going. We don’t want to show anything that could be seen as weakness. We keep pushing, we keep producing, we keep doing, we keep responding.

How do you find time to rest and heal while still showing up at getting things done?

A woman in full...

According to research, roughly ninety-one percent of pastors have experienced some form of burnout. Eighty percent don't last ten years in ministry, and for those that leave, almost ninety percent site burnout as their number one reason to stop.

Burnout is prevalent in ministry, regardless of your position or the organization in which you serve but it is a dangerous trend that very few are talking about. In this episode, Jen has a very candid conversation about the emotional, physical, and spiritual state of women in ministry.