Burnout Example

Here’s something that some ministers (perhaps many) would feel ashamed to put on a blog. It is something, too, that some people would use against a minister: a certificate for burnout. Several years ago, I was booked off for burnout or stress, for a week. We had many working class people in our congregation, and I had been in extraordinary demand among them for counselling and crisis intervention as pressures mounted in their lives. Now notice the date. A week later, riots broke out across the city, and several congregants fled from their homes. OBSERVATION: I bounced back quickly. Our Church Diaconate joked that I should pin this note to the vestry wall, as a warning to counselees who unnecessarily take up my time.