Preventing Ministry Team Burnout

by Steve Treash, Overseed Field Director

The concept of “burnout” originated in the 1970’s with a psychologist named Herbert Freudenberger who used the term to describe what he saw among the volunteer staff of a medical clinic in New York City. The volunteers were young, enthusiastic and on a mission to serve the City’s poor but Freudenberger documented how these idealistic missionaries, one-by-one, became cynical, discouraged and fatigued enough to quit.

Unfortunately, the process Freudenberger saw in the ‘70’s might be taking place among the ministry team members you serve with right now. Burnout however is never inevitable among those who serve Jesus and there are at least three ways to prevent it in your ministry.

3 Ways to Prevent Ministry Team Burnout

• Provide On-going Training for Joyful Serving

Ministry workers burn out for two core reasons. First, we burn out due to EXTERNAL forces (e.g., struggling with insufficient funds or laboring under bad leadership). Second, we burn out due to INTERNAL attitudes which steal our JOY in serving Jesus.

Before addressing the external, preventing burnout begins with the Internal by providing on-going Biblical training for the battle going on INSIDE the ministry worker.

I know this battle first-hand. My first year as a pastor taught me that I’d never survive in ministry unless I found my joy in Jesus and NOT in ministry. Unfortunately, some ministry workers burn out because they expect the fruit of ministry to give them joy but serving-joy can’t be found in seeing fruit because there are periods when there isn’t any fruit to be seen. Jesus addresses this in John 15, where He promises us joy in our abiding relationship with Him—NOT in our relationship with fruit.

Some ministry members burn out because instead of finding their primary security and affirmation in their relationship with Jesus, they expect those they serve to shower them with approval.

One afternoon the middle school leader at my church told me that two of his volunteers had quit saying that the middle schoolers were mean and showed them no appreciation. After prayer, the leader and I agreed that the solution was not scolding our students into being more grateful (they were just being middle schoolers)—the solution was instituting some on-going Bible training, so our youth leaders would understand that serving-joy is found in hearing that internal “Well Done!” from Jesus and NOT in the expectation they’d hear it from middle schoolers!

• Celebrate Every God-Sighting

Moving on from the internal forces, leadership that communicates with a negative focus is an external factor that always contributes to ministry burnout. Many leaders unknowingly create a corporate culture that screams: “We’re behind! Work harder everybody! We’re losing!”

This negativity is not the leadership modeled by Jesus. In Luke 10, when the disciples reported how the demons retreated in His name, Jesus replied with exuberant joy, “I saw Satan fall like lightning!” (Luke 10:18).

In these words, Jesus teaches that joy in ministry comes by opening our eyes and SEEING what He is doing. So much ministry burnout is prevented when ministry teams learn from Jesus the habit of celebrating God-sightings.

Does your ministry team meet for prayer? Great! Just don’t make the mistake of limiting team prayer to “requests.”  Each time, invite the team to begin with a celebration of what they see God doing through their teamwork. Go into prayer with a joyful list of all the big and small ways that Jesus is being lifted up and Satan is falling like lightning!

• Remove Unnecessary Frustrations

Another external factor causing burnout arises when leadership allows inefficient systems to hinder effective ministry.

Recently, a friend told me why he quit as a leader of his church’s men’s ministry. He’d spent weeks arranging an exciting self-funded men’s retreat—but when he couldn’t navigate the process requiring approvals from four different committees—he gave up.

Does bureaucracy burn out your best people by frustrating their God-inspired initiatives? If you’re not sure, ask your team members. You may be surprised how many good deeds and good ideas have been suffocated by red tape that always contributes to burnout.

The good news is that burnout can be prevented. So, even now, turn to Jesus and ask Him how you can be a part of promoting and protecting the joy of serving Him in the ministry in which He has placed you!