Ministers run out of gas too.  No—not just in their cars, but in their lives.  A good minister is sensitive to the circumstances of their people.  A good minister is inquisitive about their parishioners, asking about their sick aunt, about their child away in college, about their health, etc.  But if the church folks never ask the same kind of questions of the minister, the minister runs out of gas.  A good minister is an encourager and looks for ways to compliment church members.  But much of what a minister does is “behind the scenes” and out of public view.  In fact, a minister often works hard and never sometimes finds it hard to measure his/her own effectiveness. If church folks seldom encourage their ministers—the ministers run out of gas.

How long has it been since you asked your ministers how they were doing, physically, emotionally, spiritually? How long has it been since you encouraged your ministers to eat right, rest right, take off a sufficient amount of time? Ministers run out of gas too.

We ministers are not too good about taking care of ourselves. We work at a job that has few ending points. We never catch up. We seldom see the fruit of our labors. We labor in a good work, it is holy work, it is God’s work. We often labor under the illusion that since we are doing God’s work we must work harder, longer, and more intensely. We must eat right, play hard, rest regularly and exercise properly. Kenneth Cooper, founder of the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, is the guru of aerobic exercise in the United States. He recently wrote in the Dallas Morning News that a person in their thirties ought to se 70% of their exercise doing aerobic exercise and 30% doing resistance training.  In our forties we ought to do 40% resistance and 60% aerobic.  In our fifties we ought to do 50% aerobic and 50% resistance. In our sixties we ought to do 60% resistance and 40% aerobic.  We ought to exercise 45 minutes to an hour at least three times a week.  We too run out of gas.

Bill Bruster

A recent publication by the CBF Initiative for Ministerial Excellence, Well-Being and Excellence in Ministry—A Practical Resource for Ministers and Caring Congregations encourages ministers and congregational leaders to consider what good conversations they might share as they create their life together.  Download the resource and get more information at http://thefellowship.info/ime