Comments on: Mad Church Disease (Chapter 2 Discussion)

By: Mad Church Disease - Chapter 4 Discussion « Living Between the Lines

Mad Church Disease - Chapter 4 Discussion « Living Between the Lines — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:32:44 +0000

[...] Chapter 2 – The Emergency [...]

By: What Are You Reading? | Godly Sheep

What Are You Reading? | Godly Sheep — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:37:36 +0000

[...] I’ve been following along Jason Stasyszen’s and Sarah Salter’s weekly book club discussions about Mad Church Disease. Interesting discussion going on. You might [...]

By: jasonS

jasonS — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:17:41 +0000

Good for you Ginny for trying to guard against the negativity. Too many people just fall right into that trap. I’m still reeling from how widespread this problem is. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Glad we can find healing and glad we can attempt to do things differently…

By: Sarah Salter

Sarah Salter — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:14:24 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Ginny! And it brings us to another point that Anne makes in Chapter 2. ONE person can negatively affect a whole ministry. Which is why it is SO important to stay in right relationship with God so that you can avoid that. Thanks again, Ginny!

By: Ginny (MAD21)

Ginny (MAD21) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:08:19 +0000

During most of my 20s and before I was married I:

-Ran a mid-week children’s program for kids age 2-5th grade during the school year;
-Was a guide during Sunday school (helped families get their kids to the right rooms);
-Taught Sunday School during the summer;
-was the recreation director for a summer camp for 4th-6th graders;
-Was the volunteer admin for the Children’s Pastor;
-Taught VBS every summer;
-Performed with the puppet ministry;
-Went on three mission trips to Mexico;
-Participated in every children-related special event like Kid’s Night Out, etc.; and
-Worked part-time in the church office as the only graphic designer/publications person.

Along with a full time job, I did this for seven years (though I worked in the church office for only the last two of those years). Honestly, I loved every minute of it until the last 1-2 years. I still loved what I was doing to some extent, however, I was so immersed in ministry all the time and for so long, that I think I was suffering from a little burnout in the end.

To some extent, the burnout was caused by other influences. Working together with a team of people can be both very rewarding, but also very toxic if some of the members start causing problems.

I worked very hard to stay out of the negative drama that went on behind the scenes, and prayed to stay focused to ensure my motivation for all this work was not just for works-sake (or pride), my heart definitely desired to bring as many children as I could to the feet of Jesus.

Eventually I realized that I felt God calling me away from doing all these things. But I didn’t know how to leave. And instead of doing what I knew God was telling me to do, I continued on working until things got so bad I was forced to walk away. It nearly destroyed me.

I wished that Anne had written this book 10-12 years ago. I could have used it back then. Perhaps a lot of the drama and damaged souls could have been avoided?

By: Sarah Salter

Sarah Salter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:11:27 +0000

Mabel (aka Shinyhalo3:16)- YES! You are quite normal! I wrote a blog post a while back where I talked about the parable of the old and new wineskins that I think can apply to burned out Christians, too… The reason that the old wineskins burst is because the sediment from the wine settles into the pores on the inside of the wineskins. Over time, this sediment wears on the wineskin and causes it to burst. The important thing to note here is that the wineskin didn’t do anything wrong– it was just doing its job! BUT there’s hope for the wineskin (and for us) because there’s a way to keep the wineskin from bursting. The method for cleaning the sediment out of the wineskin is to wash it in the water and then beat it on the rock. The water softens it and then the beating knocks the sediment out. For us, the water is the Word of God. When you start to sense that the sediment is building up in your pores (so to speak), immerse yourself in the Word and then just hang on for the ride! (I also suggest seeking a bit of counsel. It helps! Just make sure it’s objective, loving, Godly counsel.) Did that all make sense? If not, ask and I’ll clarify. When I wrote it before it was a 1,000 word post and not just a blog comment.

By: Shinyhalo3:16

Shinyhalo3:16 — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:49:13 +0000

Hey everybody,
Just ran home from work for a minute. I know what it feels like to get “burnout” in the ministry. I have had a ministry at church where we worship in sign language and body language. It is an awesome ministry where lots of souls have been saved. But…………I was sooooo tired! I felt like I had actually let God down! I felt like a fake. And….so ashamed to admit that I dreaded my practices with the kids, etc.
I had even tried to just quit it all. I didn’t realize that others were feeling the same way as me until I started reading this book. It has really opened my eyes and made me do a complete turn around with my ministry. I had started feeling resentful of the people who would sit on the pew and enjoy the services with no obligations to any kind of ministry. I called them pew warmers. I am feeling a lot better about the situation since starting the book. I am normal with this aren’t I?

By: Sarah Salter

Sarah Salter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:30:56 +0000

Ryan, I’ll echo what Jason said… If your eyes are open, you don’t HAVE to become burned out. And praise God that your heart is to protect your pastor from it! Thank you!

By: jasonS

jasonS — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:29:44 +0000

Preach it, Sarah! I’m totally with you. I think this needs to be our battle cry in a lot of things, “It doesn’t HAVE to be this way.”

By: Sarah Salter

Sarah Salter — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:24:10 +0000

Jason, I think a lot of non-pastors also live with the delusion that their families are fine while they feel other people’s families aren’t doing so well. I think that human nature is that it’s easier for me to see the imperfections in you than to see the imperfections in me. I also think a lot of that delusion comes from the fact that we get tunnel vision and get focused on the ministry and lose track of where the rest of our lives are. As long as no huge flashing lights or loud warning sirens are going off in our faces, we just assume that because we’re focused on God’s work, that the rest of our life is continuing in a quiet and orderly fashion. But that’s just not so. And it’s very easy as a preacher’s kid to say, “While my Dad was out saving the world, I was going to hell.” But it doesn’t HAVE to be that way.