Last year I wrote a blog on mobbing:

Mobbing is an emotional assault in which a hostile workplace environment is created through innuendo, rumors, and public discrediting. Mobbing is defined as the prolonged malicious harassment of a coworker by a group of other members of an organization to secure the removal from the organization of the one who is targeted. Usually a single individual initiates the mobbing by gathering others to participate in malevolent actions to force a person out of the workplace. Mobbing involves a small group of people and results in the humiliation, devaluation, discrediting, degradation, loss of reputation and the removal of the target through termination, extended medical leave or quitting. In a church workplace setting “coworkers” may include other clergy, staff, volunteers, elders, deacons, and/or congregation members.

Mobbing has never been empirically researched in church settings, which is a fancy way of saying it doesn’t exist in the academic literature, and is therefore not recognized as something that actually happens. This blog is about how we can change that in order to begin a meaningful conversation regarding how to help pastors prevent and/or overcome this experience.

As part of my Doctorate work at Florida Atlantic University (Department of Counselor Education) I am investigating “mobbing” and clergy. I am asking you to please assist me in getting the word out to pastors (Senior, Associate, Assistant, Executive, Youth Pastors, Worship leaders: anyone serving in a pastoral/ministry position in a church) to participate in this research. If you have experienced mobbing I urge you to participate in this study.

Participation will consist of going to this secure research website: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ClergyMobbing and completing a short demographic questionnaire and three short questionnaires. This should take no more that 35 minutes and you can come back to it if you are not able to complete it at one time.

All information and collected data is completely confidential, secure and protected. No identifying information will be collected and there are no obligations, advertisements, requests, promotions or commercial activities associated with this research whatsoever, it is strictly and only for research purposes. The risks involved with participating in this study are no more than one would experience in regular daily activities. To learn more about the study please visit the “Clergy Mobbing” Facebook page I have created: Clergy Mobbing on Facebook.

If you have any contacts in denominational organizations, pastor support groups, or can forward an email to a pastor with a link to the research page please do so. A copy of an email is posted on the Clergy Mobbing Facebook page that you can forward to your contacts. I’m happy to email this information so please feel free to contact me at stevevensel@gmail.com. Thank you for helping with this important project in any way possible!

Lastly, I want to express my extreme appreciation to Steve Brown for his support of pastors and to Erik for his help with this blog.

Steve Vensel, Doctoral Candidate
Florida Atlantic University
Department of Counselor Education

I have the vantage point of being both a therapist and an academic who focuses on clergy research. This stuff excites me because it offers both insight and direction. In my last blog I wrote about burnout so that pastors can recognize the signs before they become crippled by it. Today I want to address how to avoid it altogether.

Burnout is not good. That may sound stupidly simplistic and grammatically awkward but it deserves repeating: Burnout is not good. The reason for the negative redundancy is to emphasize the need to avoid burnout. It is so debilitating and so difficult to treat that the very best way to deal with it is to avoid it.

Pastors are a stout and dedicated bunch. You guys work long hours, receive little pay, don’t take much time off, experience incredibly difficult boundary issues with church members, constantly have to choose between the needs of your family and the needs of your congregations, have more “bosses” and critics in a single congregation than most people will have in a lifetime and rarely have supportive relationships that you can deeply trust. But you serve God with a devotion and ethic that any Fortune 500 corp. CEO would kill for.

But pastors are also stubborn. It never ceases to amaze me how pastors will continue to self-sacrifice with no regard to the personal consequences. Often this self-sacrifice involves denying the degree of stress you are experiencing by minimizing its emotional impact. Pastors can tell me stories of incredible rudeness and criticisms, sometimes directed at their families, and say “but, that’s Okay” as if accepting abusive behavior from a fellow Christian is Godly. Pastor are notorious for not taking vacation and when they do they are often asked to come back early for one reason or another, usually for good cause, but it often serves to increases stress. You may think this is just a part of serving Christ but the increasing exodus of clergy from full-time ministry suggest the stress experienced by American pastors is increasingly intolerable.

Pastors are no different than any other human and are not exempt from the consequences when emotional needs go unmet. Just like a bank account with insufficient funds if you have not made any deposits the day will come when you are overdrawn. But the emotional bounce will manifest in health issues, family issues, or emotional issues including burnout. The saddest part is that pastors can become so emotionally bankrupt that they’re unable to make anymore deposits and they close the account. When that happens it is neither glorifying to God or useful to man!

But this doesn’t have to happen. It is important that pastors practice some very simple spiritual self-care. Chandler investigated how personal spiritual renewal and rest-taking practices can have a significant impact on reducing clergy stress and burnout.

Researchers have affirmed that spiritual dryness and lack of vibrant spiritual encounter with God is highly associated with clergy burnout. One of the consistent findings is that as time demands increase so does spiritual dryness. This means that spiritual renewal is not just “quiet-time” but is actually a necessary part of your personal and spiritual well-being. Spiritual renewal is not preparing for sermons but is finding the time, resources and means to have significant personal encounters with God for the purpose of having significant personal encounters with God! Developing systems, resources, same sex support relationships, and retreat time for spiritual renewal needs to be intentional and supported by the church. Devotional reading, meditation, prayer, worship, journaling, fasting and restorative retreats are ways of providing for spiritual renewal. This might require developing these as disciplines. A discipline is something you do by direct effort that produces something that cannot be produced by direct effort. Spiritual renewal must be purposeful. Also know that church members both want and need their pastors to be spiritually fit. I encourage you to address this with your church leadership so that a yearly spiritual retreat is included as a required part of ministry. There are many great ministries that focus on clergy care and provide very affordable retreat experiences. Your relationship with God is a vital source of energy, purpose and well-being, make sure you are personally attending to it!

Rest-taking practices, or taking time off, include non-work related leisure activities such as exercise, reading for pleasure, hobbies, outdoor activities and other recreational pursuits. It also includes family time. It is interesting to note that researchers consistently find that ministry involvement which prevents rest taking is associated with burnout and ineffectiveness. In other words the less time pastors are able to rest because of ministry involvement, the more likely they are to be emotionally exhausted. One researcher argued that rest and renewal are imperative for personal effectiveness and church well-being. It is also important to note that taking time off is associated with a deeper sense of personal accomplishment in ministry which functions as a motivator to deeper ministry. The old adage “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is an old adage for a reason. It turns out that recreation for men is as important as relationship for women! Men really need to play, create and experience. And remember, you don’t work hard to earn a vacation you take a vacation so you can work hard.

All in all these two simple practices will have a tremendous positive affect on you and your ministry and will help you avoid burnout. But they have to be intentional.

____________________

Chandler, D. J., (2009). Pastoral burnout and the impact of personal spiritual renewal, rest-taking, and support system practices. Pastoral Psychology, 58,273-287.

As I’ve worked with and cared for pastors over the past twenty five years, one of the particularly nasty hazards is that of “burnout.” In spite of the popularity of the term, most people are unaware of the complexity of the problem and often fail to recognize it soon enough to make a difference. Burnout is a particularly sneaky assassin, and although it has the destructive force of an IED, it usually approaches from behind and strangles the love out of its victim. Yeah, that’s not a typo, it’s a love killer as well as a ministry ender.

Ministry takes place within a spiritual economy of personal sacrifice that is relationally, physically and emotionally demanding. Burnout is always directly related to the larger work environment and is always in response to relationships and stressors. There is no single cause of burnout. The research has found that burnout is related to a multitude of work dynamics such as work load & time demands; relationship & emotional demands; lack of supportive relationships, affirmation & encouragement; negative feedback; lack of resources to accomplish ministry; and many more.

Burnout is a very complex mix of experiences and feelings. It doesn’t just happen and it is not related to individual inadequacies or personality traits. In other words, everyone is susceptible to it. I’ve noticed that many pastors think they should be made of stouter stuff and should somehow rise above the emotional needs of normal humans. This almost always results in late recognition of what is happening and a tremendous amount of shame is often attached to the experience.

Most people think of burnout as a one dimensional issue of emotional exhaustion, but burnout actually consist of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal crisis. These dimensions are experienced across a wide range of intensity. When a pastor is distressed to the point of either leaving the ministry or becoming so ineffective as to be unable to function in ministry, they are probably experiencing all three of the dimensions.

Emotional Exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion is the most widely reported experience of burnout and is the most recognized manifestation of the experience. Feeling overwhelmed by ministry demands, feeling depleted of emotional resources, and feeling like you just can’t take anymore are common reactions. The emotional demands of ministry exhaust the ministry leader’s capacity to give more to, be involved with, or responsive to, the needs of the ministry recipients. Feelings of depressed mood begin to invade and pastors will often respond by isolating themselves from others. In an effort to combat this sense of emotional depletion pastors will often attempt to increase their personal devotion time with the Lord, but even that experience is impacted by the loss of emotional responsiveness and well-being. In other words, it’s hard to experience a joyful relationship when you are emotionally exhausted and this is true in relationship with the Lord. This is like a landmine that pops up just when you think you’ve found the escape route to the emotional fire you are taking. It explodes in a deepening sense of emotional loneliness and is immensely confusing for pastors. Spiritually paralyzed, you begin to feel isolated from the one most sustaining relationship that has been so defining and purposeful. There’s a man down but help doesn’t seem to be coming.

Depersonalization

Few people are aware of this dimension and even fewer understand how powerful and overwhelming this little grenade is. When I meet with pastors and describe this aspect of burnout I frequently get an immediate response of recognition and relief. Depersonalization, also called cynicism in the research literature, refers to a change in how ministry leaders perceive those under their care. When someone feels cynical, they take on a cold, unattached or distant attitude toward them. They sometimes feel like everyone is an idiot and deserve whatever they get! While listening to someone who they were previously compassionate towards they are thinking “why are you bothering me?” Depersonalization is an attempt to put distance between oneself and care recipients, and pastors often begin to decrease their personal ministry to others as their normal optimism gives way to cynicism. But this has an emotional purpose: it serves as a protective function in an attempt to protect oneself from exhaustion and disappointment. This is usually accompanied with a tremendous sense of shame in which the ministry leader doesn’t just feel guilty that they are thinking badly, but that they are bad personally for thinking that way. Guilt is “I’ve done something bad.” Shame is “I am something bad.” It’s these feelings of guilt and shame that lead into the final component of the experience.

Personal Crisis

There is a decreasing sense of personal accomplishment, ability and effectiveness. The negative self appraisal becomes so profound that many pastors and ministry leaders begin to feel that any menial job, even secular, is all they are equipped for and would be a relief to the present experience. Even past accomplishments are viewed through this profoundly negative lens, and feeling inadequate and ineffective they lose confidence in their ability to make a difference. In short, they are ready to give up and feel there is no other choice, they feel like failures. This bunker buster penetrates into the deepest sense of our purpose and meaning. It wipes out our sense of who we are, what we were called to do and our ability to do it.

When seen from this multi-dimensional perspective burnout becomes something much more complex and significant than just a reaction to stress. When all of these dimensions of burnout emerge, pastors are in trouble and need to seek help. Because of the complex, personal, and deeply emotional nature of burnout, it is imperative that you find a helping professional that can provide you with a confidential, caring and informed relationship. I cannot stress enough the need to seek out help with someone who has either experienced and recovered from burnout or who specializes in the recovery process. There are many good resources that will help, but the essential nature of burnout is relationship oriented and it will take a relationship to combat it. Get the books but also get the right help you need.

But they all cried out together, “Away with this man…” – Luke 23:18

Since this is my first blog entry, and hopefully not my last, I guess I should give a very short introduction. I’ve been a practicing counselor for 30 years; I’ve served twenty of those years in church and para-church ministries; I have always provided services to pastors and their families for no fees; Steve Brown was my pastor for many years; I am the Executive Director of PastorServe South Florida – a ministry to care, support, counsel and love on pastors; I’m also a doctoral student researching clergy stress, burnout and mobbing. Mob what?

The fact that you are reading a blog for pooped pastors means that you may well have experienced something that until fairly recently has not had a name attached to it. Its a devastating experience that often results in pastors leaving the ministry. Its called mobbing. Although this may not sound familiar, every pastor I talk too tells me they have either been mobbed or know a dozen other pastors that have experienced it.

Mobbing is related to workplace bullying, organizational power factions, forced resignations, and forced terminations. Mobbing is defined as the prolonged malicious harassment of a coworker by a group of other members of an organization to secure the removal from the organization of the one who is targeted. Mobbing involves a small group of people and results in the humiliation, devaluation, discrediting, degradation, loss of reputation and the removal of the target through termination, extended medical leave or quitting. It is a traumatizing experience that often results in significant financial, career, health, emotional and social loss. Mobbing is unjust, unfair and undeserved. In a church setting the organization includes staff members, elders, deacons, and congregation members.

Church mobbings can be set in motion by a church member, elder, deacon or staff member. The target might be a senior pastor, associate pastor, or ministry staff. Usually there is a focus on some issue of disagreement (robes or no robes) that triggers the mobbing. Sometimes there are just vague “problems.” The pastor is rarely confronted by individuals seeking to solve an actual problem or there may be a bullying attempt to control the pastor. The mobbing begins as others are pulled in and are persuaded that the target is the problem. In churches there is rarely, if ever, a chance for the pastor to face his accusers because of the “people are saying” syndrome and “they” don’t want to cause problems! Mobbing is progressive and eventually the targeted pastor is so confused by the unfairness of it ,and so in shock by the brutality of it, they simply don’t know what to do. In addition, pastors are often told not to talk to anyone or they will split the church and that would not honor Christ. Spiritual, emotional, relational and financial ploys are all available to the mob as weapons, tactics, and strategies employed in the removal of the target.

The impact of mobbing on pastors and their families is profound and traumatizing. The personal impact includes deep humiliation, anger, anxiety, fear, depression, and isolation. There is often a profound sense of shame (guilt is “I’ve done something bad,” shame is “I am something bad”) that works to redefine all previous accomplishments as meaningless and all future hopes as dashed. In short, mobbing often convinces the target that they are failures and always will be.

The spiritual impact can also be profound and often result in a crisis of faith and leaving pastoral ministry. Pastors serve Christ and love people and when “Christians” treat them with such contempt and malice, how can a pastor come to grips with that? Persecution from non-believers is one thing but execution by congregants is an enormous betrayal. The pastor attempts to find biblical solace and comfort but mobbing is so unjust and so unfair, and the pain so profound, that they often feel abandoned even by the Lord. They know that its not true but emotionally and spiritually they are devastated.

Every relationship is impacted by a mobbing. The spouse and children pay an especially high price as they watch their loved one being unjustly mistreated and are often the recipients of the pain being expressed by the pastor. Unfortunately that pain is expressed through anger, resentment, conflict eruptions and isolation. Most frequently the pastor is so confused and ashamed at what is taking place they remain silent and isolated from family and friends which only serves to deepen the trauma. They are fearful that even their family members believe they have brought this upon themselves.

While a mobbing is taking place the pastor and his family do not know who they can trust or who they can talk to. Fearing further reprisals they remain silent, deepening their isolation, and become either depressed or physically ill. It is a vicious cycle that, because of the shame attached to it, doesn’t end when they leave the church.

What’s a pastor to do? For starters, talk to someone who can help you understand what has happened to you. Now that you have a name for it you can begin to release some of the shame you have been feeling. For many of you reading this, just having a name put to your experience is comforting. Given the traumatizing affect of mobbing, I believe its imperative you find an experienced counselor to help you in the healing process.

Finally, talk to the Lord and honestly express your pain, confusion, fear and resentment. Take the time to pray with your spouse about the pain and fear asking the Lord to enter into it and provide comfort beyond what you are capable of experiencing. Psalms 34:18 tells us that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit and David tells us in Psalm 62 to pour out our hearts to him for God is our refuge. Also know that Christ can provide a special comfort to you because he too was mobbed and he loves you.