I am a preacher. In my career I have also been an actor, psychotherapist, life coach and writer. All these occupations have their own challenges but the pressure of being a preacher can be unique. The mental health of the preacher is not always sufficiently considered, least of all by the preacher themselves.
Preaching is a potentially lifechanging activity and occupies a unique space at the horizon of God’s Word and the lives of those we speak to. My approach to preaching is to include some reference to my own life, experience and thought. I know there is an argument for preachers to take themselves out of the message, but I believe we cannot help but bring ourselves into play when we stand before others. At the very least, people will hear an implicit message from our appearance, posture, tone of voice and energy. It is because as preachers we bring so much of ourselves into our work that I think we need to pay attention to our own mental health. So I am going to outline a few danger signs to watch out for and some things we can do about them.
LET’S TALK ABOUT BURNOUT
The biggest risk for preachers is burnout. This can creep up on us without us noticing. The signs of burnout are: increased lethargy; stress; irritability; negative thoughts about yourself or your work; fearfulness; and even a growing sense of being a ‘fake’. At the heart of this is a profound exhaustion. Unfortunately it is possible to keep going for some time, even if we are running on empty. This may seem like dedication but is in fact a form of self-destructiveness. A lot of the symptoms of burnout may seem to be part of the ‘normal’ working pattern. We all get tired sometimes or have a bad day. Burnout happens when
