Let’s talk about a word that has been heard many times over the past couple of years, “burnout.” Oh, and we are not talking about taking your favorite fast car and doing some “burnouts!”

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines burnout as “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.”

I have been in burnout, in some form or another, for approximately the past 900 days. Pretty specific right? Well, I knew the summer of 2020 that I was no longer passionate about what I was doing and I felt very frustrated and at times lost and alone. Many things were happening in my life; family issues, health, ministry challenges and more. Oh, and burnout takes time to walk through, its not take two weeks and you are all better.  

I was pretty much done with it all, but I was so exhausted mentally that I couldn’t figure out what to do next. So, I pretty much did nothing. Our church had some pretty big changes in 2020 and I was feeling it all. We were about to start a search for a Lead Pastor and then covid entered the picture. Now as much as that caused a lot of stress, it also pushed me to do something. I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing, because it wasn’t working and I felt myself fading away….

Now, this is not about me, it’s about you: the ministry leaders at large. If you want to know the rest of my story, contact me and we can meet up for some coffee and I’ll share.

I learned quite a bit in this phase of life. I learned that I “didn’t have it all together” but I also learned to lean on some key people for guidance and overall help. I read, a lot. I read many books on burnout or anything dealing with it and deep dived into scripture.  It has been an adventure of finding my way through and I want to share a few things about what it looks like and a few tips to walk you through in finding a way through.

These come from copious amounts of notes from books and blogs read and podcasts that I listened to.

There are various thoughts and definitions of burnout, along with a variety of phases or stages offered by many experts. And when you read enough, you will see that there is quite a bit of overlap of areas, so today I want to share three stages of burnout:  Stressed, Overwhelmed, and Crispy. When I came across this, I found it very helpful and easily understandable of where I was.

Stressed looks like:

• Irritableness
• Anxiety / Worry
• High blood pressure
• Insomnia
• Loss of Appetite or Stress Eating
• Unusual heart rhythms (skipped beats, rapid pounding)
• Struggle to concentrate/forgetfulness
• Headaches

Overwhelmed looks like:

• Increased negativity
• Withdraw
• Lateness for work
• Procrastination
• Dreading returning to work
• Increased marital conflict
• Decreased sexual desire
• Social withdrawal (from friends and/or family)
• Cynicism
• Resentfulness
• Increased caffeine consumption
• Increased alcohol consumption

Crispy looks like:

• Sadness or depression
• Stomach or bowel problems
• Mental fatigue
• Physical fatigue
• Headaches
• Hopeless Discouragement
• The desire to “check out” or run away from friends, work, and perhaps even family
• Occasional thoughts about ending your life

Many of you just had a lightbulb or two go off, didn’t you? Yes, we can find ourselves in any and all of these stages throughout our lives, but when things line up in such a way that they become building blocks, well then you are walking down the path of burnout.

So, what do you do?

• Pray for and seek out a mentor. Trying to work through burnout alone, will cause more stress.
• Get a counselor.  You need to “download” to a neutral party to help guide you through emotions and behaviors, etc.
• Take time away. Reassess why you do what you are doing.
• Remember to celebrate the victories, but also grieve the losses.
• Learn to say “No,” even if you could easily say yes. You cannot do everything and you cannot be everywhere.
• Pray, REPEAT, Pray again.
• Take time for yourself. This might mean taking extended time off, don’t get caught up in who will teach, or manage the day to day, etc. You need to do this for you, your family, and the church.

I honestly believe no one is immune to burnout, but you can take the above tips and put them into practice and set in place to help lessen the chances of it happening to you or your staff. I also found guidance in these books: Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences by Carey Nieuwhof, Reset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture by David Murray, and The Comeback by Louie Giglio.

Remember, ministry is not about you. It’s not about how many seats you fill, how many people you say yes to or how many hospital visits you make. Don’t make it about yourself and what you think you can do. He can do so much more through us if we get out of His way! Don’t forget that you have been called to your position and this was done by our God. Ultimately we work for Him and if you are obeying Him, you are building His kingdom. But, if you are obeying self, you are building your kingdom.

About the Author: Dennis Wagner, Executive Pastor at Skyline Church. Married to his best friend, Susan, for 25 years and has been involved in ministry as a volunteer / staff for over 20 years.