I’ve got an article in the November-December 2021 issue of Nurturing Faith Journal. It’s titled, “STAYING THE COURSE: Pastoral ministry is hard but fulfilling when managed well.” I begin by saying, “There were plenty of challenges, obstacles, and difficulties during my 33 years as pastor of Village Baptist Church in Bowie, Md, as there are in any pastoral ministry. While extremely fulfilling, being an effective pastor is also hard work.”

One study, according to Pastoral Care Inc., found that 72% of all pastors work between 55-75 hours a week—and 84% feel on call 24/7. Another statistic stated that 73% of pastors have had vacation and personal time interrupted by ministry duties. That was certainly true for me.

Another challenge was preaching to the same congregation year after year. How could I come up with something “new” to say to people who had heard me preach 1000 times, or even 2000 times? Although I did not call it that, I was constantly “spelunking scripture,” seeking to get beneath the surface level of biblical passages to explore their underlying meanings for our lives. In the process, I learned the importance of storytelling in preaching. I used storytelling to help listeners connect the biblical stories with their own stories.

After I retired, I finally had time to reflect on the challenges and fulfillments of long-term pastoral ministry. One product of that reflection was the book, Preaching for the Long Haul: A Case Study on Long-Term Pastoral Ministry. I also began to write a series of Bible study books called Spelunking Scripture. The first two books in the series were published by Nurturing Faith in August of this year, and a third is due to be released in November. A fourth will be published early next year in 2022.

In retrospect, I was able to identify some strategies that I had used to prevent pastoral burnout. Although I never took a sabbatical, I did take off most Thursdays to play golf with some ministerial friends. I also took vacations with my wife Linda to visit family and see new places. Another key strategy was to develop friendships with people in the church. Some church members were among our closest friends.

Underlying it all, of course, was my faith in God, seeking to follow Jesus, and spending much time in Bible study and prayer. One of my favorite scripture passages is Romans 8:26-28, which is the focus of the 2nd chapter of Spelunking Scripture: The Letters of Paul. It says: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” That is the ultimate strategy for all the challenges of life.