Comments on: advice to young pastors: leading in an age of anxiety

By: Crit

Crit — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:16:15 +0000

I am a young pastor in a denomination that has been in steady decline for 40 years. Our leadership lives in an anxious state (thinking cap mentality) trying every new technique out there. What it has done is cause anxiety amongst the clergy which has trickled down to our churches. Our churches do not need any more anxiety…they have enough living in this world. Anyway, pray for me. The stress is horrible and I’m getting tired of it.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:29:39 +0000

I think you are touching on issues that are hugely helpful for all pastors and leaders, in this series. Thank you.

I think more retreat and quiet time with God is needed to survive this role these days. Hard to come by but as necessary as oxygen.

By: Vic Holtz

Vic Holtz — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:33:52 +0000

Being a church planter in a third world city like Monroe, the Internet is present but not dominate. The local newspaper is still king but has had to shift its focus to local issues and local news and events to maintain its readership. Not everyone has email, including some church leadership which is a challenge. Living with one foot on the twenty first century and the other in the twentieth century can be a challenge.

The major cause of anxiety for the people in our church is finding a job and pastors are looked upon to do the job of preaching the Gospel and praying for folks. As a church planter my life revolves around the evangelistic task of leading folks to Christ and then spending the rest of my time trying to find ways to keep them there. Their lives give our church all the turmoil and anxiety we can handle. This is where being real is so important otherwise our “spirituality” doesn’t hold water.

By: Belfry

Belfry — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:08:57 +0000

I like this, Ken. I like where you are going. Anxiety and peace seem to be at odds.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:00:34 +0000

I’ve heard it said that when pastors are doing their jobs, turmoil will not be far behind. I wonder if the communities with the least stress and anxiety and turmoil are the ones in which their pastor’s job description merely says, “Keep everyone as happy as you can.”

I hope the the Church will remember that a less anxious pastor can be a more effective pastor. Not only in his/her effectiveness but also by their example! I will be very sad if our staff forgets to make time to pray together, build friendships, eat pizza, and celebrate God’s grace in our lives and community because we’ve become too busy with “important” things.

By: David Wild

David Wild — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:43:39 +0000

It seems like providing a still haven in the presence of God might move to the top of the list of useful services the local church can usefully provide. We can download sermons (and I do, thank you annarborvineyard.org!); we can share life events, prayer needs and ideas through email, blogs and social networking; we can organize support for people in need. All of this is fantastic, and I think we underestimate its positive impact. But I just haven’t managed to download and deep peace with God recently. We seem to live in a world in which even things which are not urgent have a great sense of urgency to them (“I have to respond to that email NOW!”) and to be honest even though I grew up in a different era I am now having a hard time pressing the pause button (or even remembering how to press the pause button). I remember having a retreat event at the vineyard once where we didn’t do much other than sit around silently before God, eat some nice basic food, and pray for each other. I could do with one of those at least once a week really.