Clergy Wellness

Following a recent post by Rev. Austin Adkinson where he shared his own struggles with anxiety, Sun Magrath gives an overview of the general kinds people encounter. "Anxiety is not a sign of weakness," Magrath writes. "It is an understandable and treatable disorder that can be overcome..."

"Do New Year resolutions ... make us better people, better Christians, better pastors?" Sue Magrath asks this question as the new year approaches and offers an alternative, more contemplative, approach.

The Clergy Wellness Task Force is in the process of creating a directory of helping professionals. We want to offer clergy a resource for...

For this month’s installment of the Clergy Wellness Corner, Sue Magrath gets some insight on renewal leave from the Rev. Derek McGuckin, pastor at Riverview United Methodist Church in Pasco, Washington. McGuckin, who took a renewal leave recently, describes them as essential and offers some practical pointers from his experience.

By Sue Magrath, MC Many clergy have shared issues on this page that require a great deal of courage and vulnerability, revealing struggles with depression,...

By Sue Magrath | Sacred Mountain Ministries We all have it—that area of vulnerability, the Achilles heel which we hope will never catch up with us. But it...

For the final installment of a 3-part series on burnout, Rev. Lisa Talbott offers four key strategies that have helped her to recover from a ministry "stall." While acknowledging that recovery can be a slow process, she argues that "burnout doe not get the last word."

"Some people strive for a “work-life balance.” I’m not sure it exists... Accepting that as a reality is a big help." Rev. Debbie Sperry offers some wisdom earned the hard way in the latest post on the Clergy Wellness blog.

The Rev. Cheryl Fear speaks to the importance for pastors of cultivating relationships outside the Church. "Friends who are not involved in ministry will help you maintain your emotional balance, stretch your heart," she says, and they can also "help diminish the occupational loneliness that comes with the calling."

"Grief is a journey. I can’t just hammer away at it one day and expect it to be gone the next. It needs my attention." In a post for the Clergy Wellness Corner, Moscow First UMC Pastor Debbie Sperry shares how leaders must allow themselves to grieve as they help those they serve to do the same.