What is it like to be a preacher or rabbi who no longer believes in God?
In confidential interviews, clergy from across the ministerial spectrum—from liberal to literal—reveal how their lives of religious service and study have led them to a truth inimical to their professed beliefs and profession. Although their personal stories are as varied as the denominations they once represented, or continue to represent—whether Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Mormon, Pentecostal, or any of numerous others—they give voice not only to their own struggles but also to those who similarly suffer in tender and lonely silence...
I have spent many years interviewing and approving or disapproving candidates for ordination and hopefully a lifetime of ministry. Because of my 43 years of experience in the ministry, I know that one of the main qualities I am looking for in a candidate is resilience and a good plan of self-care. I thank God for calling me into the ministry. I have had a very satisfying and yes, happy life. I have also had a very stressful life at times with many of the usual disasters and troubles of life. Many ministers are workaholics and people pleasers. These behaviors can be faith killers for sure. Like many highly stressful professions, the ministry has a high burnout rate, but those cases are still by far in the minority. Most ministers figure out how to keep life in balance, keep the faith, and serve happily in what can be a very fulfilling life's work.
ReplyDeleteEvery profession suffers burnout, of course. Teachers get tired of teaching, professors get tired of professing. Some philosophers even get tired of philosophizing. Faith leaders losing faith should be no different. The question is always: what to do for an encore? This book about ministerial burnout suggests that many who lose faith in god gain faith in humanity and in freethought. After the burnout, new light can emerge.
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