This recent New York Times article on the increase in clergy experiencing burnout got me thinking about how pastors can survive and thrive in ministry for the long haul. If you've been around the church for any length of time that probably means you have some sad stories about pastors burning out in all sorts of ways. And as BCP brings on pastoral interns and introduces them to the world of pastoral ministry we want to set them on a trajectory that addresses and prevents burnout down the road.

The remedy to burnout in clergy, according to the NYT, is more time off. And not simply more time off, but better boundaries between church activities and personal activities which can so easily become blurred. But I think this article falls short in its remedy because it misdiagnosed the disease. Exhaustion and unclear boundaries are symptoms of a bigger problem - isolation. At the heart of so many stories about pastors leaving because of scandal, exhaustion, or apathy you'll most likely find a pastor in isolation. It's remarkable that with so much emphasis put on the church living as a new community and a new family a pastor can be the most isolated people in the entire church.

I was talking to a friend the other day about the advantages of being part of a network of churches and pastors who work so closely together. I rattled off the economic advantages of sharing common costs, the advantage of not having to do the same administrative work over and over with each new congregation. And then I finally got around to talking about the relational advantages: the time that is spent praying for one another, the discussion of hard pastoral issues, the books that are read, the theological questions that are batted about, the Psalms that are memorized. These are all, I hope, ways we can begin fight off isolation and ultimately burnout.

I found the NYT article depressing as it rattled off the stats for pastoral exhaustion, but only because I know they're probably pretty accurate. What does give me hope is that we in Brooklyn are far from the only people who are church planting within a local network. It's happening all over the place and I hope it will make for a generation of pastors who can stay in ministry and finish strong with healthy churches, healthy marriages, and healthy spiritual lives.