Dear Church Family,
I won’t say it was a gift to stay home with Covid on Easter morning this year, but it was a gift to see the way LCC was able to continue moving with both Rev. Catherine and myself out of commission. A strong, healthy church is one in which the pastors can pass the baton at times. My sense is that we strengthened this muscle, together, through my sabbatical this past summer. I’m really proud of us for that.
In the March 2023 issue of the Christian Century, Julian DeShazier wrote a piece called, “The little engine that needed collaborators.” The summary line reads, “Clergy burnout happens when churches expect pastors to do everything and pastors oblige.” The article looks at the recent Barna Group study that found 42% of pastors have given “real, serious consideration” to quitting full-time ministry. I’ve seen a lot of articles quoting that study since it came out, and the “42%” number doesn’t surprise me. I am glad to say I don’t fall into that percentage, but I know pastors who do, and a lot of them are in churches in which the baton cannot be passed. Or, my colleagues won’t let go of the baton.
DeShazier points out that the church has a history as a community of collaborators, and burnout is happening when we forget the value of that design. Pastors burn out for the same reason engines do, and “both performance and lifespan depend largely on how much an engine has to compensate for systems around it that aren’t functioning well.”
By the end of the article, he writes, “clergy overfunctioning is based in bad theology, and it’s on all of us to change it.” The idea that the church can’t live without me disparages the members of the church and, frankly, it is disparaging to God, who has a way of showing up in and through each and every one of you— so clearly evident both throughout my sabbatical and on this Easter Sunday morning.
I have a history of trying to do everything, trying to fix everything, trying to know everything. The pandemic was my breaking point, when I couldn’t do it anymore: when “everything” suddenly included teaching 2nd and 4th grade, Zoom preschool (both parenting a preschooler and making critical decisions as the pastor of a church with a preschool), caring for my Gramma in the early stages of dementia alongside my dad, and truly—this is always understated—living in the collective trauma brought on by Covid-19, especially in those early days when the death toll was rising and we didn’t know what was to come.
Now, I try to not do everything myself. I try to seek out collaborators, even if sometimes their way is “not the way I would do it.” I try to let things go. I haven’t found the right balance yet— between overfunctioning and underfunctioning— but I know I am on my way. The collaborators in my life— personal and professional— are on the way with me, helping me find that balance.
I’m sharing this all with you now because on Easter Sunday morning, I sat on my couch feeling less-than-stellar, texting Rev. Catherine about how we wish we were there, but we both got to watch the “engine” that is LCC move along with energetic grace, proclaiming Christ is risen and love never ends. Of course it was not an ideal Easter Sunday at LCC, but I knew it went as smoothly as it did because of the hard work we have all put in to building collaborative systems.
I do, very much, look forward to being with you again soon. April brings the commitment phase of our Give Gather Grow Capital Campaign. On Sunday April 7th, we’ll be sharing the amount we’ve raised in early fundraising efforts. I’m SO excited for that.
As you read The Columns, you’ll see that April brings many more exciting events and opportunities. I hope you’ll find a balance in your commitment to LCC— that you’ll participate in ways that are sustainable and life-giving for this particular season in your life.
With gratitude,
Pastor Joanna