Let’s Talk About Ministry Burnout: A Proven Research-based Approach to the Wellbeing of Pastors
Wes Beavis (Powerborn)
Let’s Talk About Ministry Burnout is written primarily to and for pastors. However, anyone in ministry or who cares for someone in ministry can benefit from the book.
Beavis writes candidly, relatably and practically. Most important, he writes from his own experience. He served on the staff of at least one large church and also struggled to pastor a small church plant as it launched. Following his own burnout, he studied the phenomenon as the basis of his doctorate in clinical psychology. Let’s Talk About Ministry Burnout is the marriage of his experience and expertise.
Ideally, the book should be read before burnout, but readers already at the short end of the wick will find stories from fellow sufferers, explanations of common thoughts and feelings associated with burnout, and a companion in the dark days of burnout.
Beavis begins with an outline of six stages of burnout, moves into several chapters on factors leading to burnout—such as the vocation itself, a minister’s personality, family stresses, financial strain, disappointment and exhaustion, among others—and finishes with a few chapters on acknowledging resistance and obstacles to recovery.
An uplifting chapter toward the end calls the reader to remember why he or she got into ministry in the first place. The ember of the call can reignite a burned-out minister enough to begin the hard and individual work of recovery.
Let’s Talk About Ministry Burnout isn’t a how-to book with a concrete checklist of fixes. Rather, Beavis comes alongside the reader, offering awareness, compassion and understanding. Indeed, a pastor reading this book will feel known and understood—a rare gift for a pastor.
The book is available through Wes Beavis’ website.
Eric Black, executive director/publisher/editor
Baptist Standard
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