Avoid Summer Burnout
By Raul Rivera
It had only been a year and a half from the day I started my church and already, I was feeling burned out. I thought it would be bigger and better established. I took it for granted that the congregation would be more dedicated and involved in outreach efforts. All of my energy was quickly dying and I did not know how to get it back. Ever been there? Maybe you are there now. Let me give you three things that will help you avoid burnout.
1. Unmanaged expectations: Many leaders that start churches have an unstated idea of what their church should look like in its first year. When that idea is not achieved, it can lead to the perception of failure. Let me give you an example.
In most of the conversations I have with church planters, they usually describe a vision that is complicated, multifaceted and elaborate. In fact, it looks a lot like the one they perceived from their former pastor. While I always encourage big dreams, they must be well managed and understood. Not every church is supposed to grow to reach 1,000 people. However, if you expect to be a church of 1,000 people and you only grow to 300, you will always feel like you failed. But those who never expected to reach 300 will feel like they have conquered the world if they reach 300.
2. Preaching without purpose: When I first started in ministry, the average length of my sermons was about 1 hour. As I matured, the sermons were more like 30 minutes. In the early years, I prepared as though the end of the world was here, and that the sermon I was preaching was probably mine and the congregation's last. I soon learned that there was always another Sunday and that very likely, the congregation could not remember what I talked about the week before.
As a preacher, I would get bothered when I asked the question, "How many remember what the message was about last week?" and only one out of one hundred would raise their hand. This was troubling to me because I equated remembering the message with dedication, and seriousness about the things of God. But I never considered that maybe my sermons weren't as impacting and worth remembering as I thought they were. Is there a solution? Be encouraged, I found one. Let me give you what will make preaching more effective and easier to do week after week and avoid preaching burnout.
a. Preach in series: You should take some time and pick topics you can cover over 4 to 6 weeks. That means that every year you pick between nine and twelve topics and then prepare them to be covered in a series.
b. Less than 30 minutes: As a preacher the hardest thing to do is to discipline yourself to cover your entire message in under 30 minutes. This will force you to stay on topic and keep the congregation's attention. Avoid the temptation of rabbit trails because, like it or not, the fact is that on Sunday morning, you will probably be able to effectively hold their attention for about 25 minutes. When you train yourself to boil a message down to a more "concentrated" version, you will find that people track with you better, because they feel that every point says something vital.
c. Stick to your plan: If you select your sermon series in advance, you will be able to research, develop and better prepare your messages. You will also be able to publish the upcoming series four weeks in advance on the church website, bulletins and other printed materials by using mail marketing. One good way to advertise your church is to get a nonprofit mailing permit and then send postcard advertisements of upcoming sermon series to thousands of households within 30 minutes drive of your church. I am certain it will draw new people to visit your church.
3. Not paying attention to the things that keep you awake at night: For some people, dealing with the hardest issues only happens at night when their heads touch the pillow. What are the things you think about at night? If you are typical, you probably think of things that you secretly worry about, but rarely tell anyone. I often get a chance to hear many of those concerns. Let me give you a short list
a. You think about growing but don't know how: How do you grow a church? After 2 years, you are beginning to realize that people won't come to your church because you have great services. There has to be something more yet you do not know what to do and you are running out of ideas. That is a sign that you are burning out.
b. You worry about finances: You got into a building and the rent is killing you. You thought that the building would attract more people, but the opposite has happened, or maybe new people have come but the rent is more than you can really afford and there are times when you pay from your own pocket to meet the shortfall.
c. You worry about the IRS and the books of the church: Not only do you think about the church and how to make it grow, but you also worry about the books and management of its resources. Is there something I should know that I do not know? Am I properly reporting love offerings? What about forms that need to be turned in to the IRS? Every January you make the pledge to get it right, but my March, you surrender to the busyness of ministry and life and then you suppress the voice that whispers to you at night that reminds you to get them right.
Let's review
We covered three things that may cause burnout. They are 1) unmanaged expectations, 2) preaching without purpose and, 3) not paying attention to the things that keep you awake at night.
The third one is probably the one that preachers point to least when it comes to burnout, but I dare say that it is probably the greatest creator of unidentifiable stress. In each man is a deep desire to quietly enjoy the fruit of their labor. When certain aspects of that labor keep you up at night, you tend to lose the enjoyment of the things that you have accomplished.
Why not make this year one that you will look at the things that keep you and deal with them. Make it a goal that by December, the church's finances, policies and IRS compliance issues will be properly dealt with and taken to a new level of excellence so that you will no longer spend any sleepless nights wondering what could happen if the IRS knocked at your church's door.