Blog Archives - Center for Pastoral Renewal

Technology: A Blessing and A Curse?

Technology is in every part of our lives – that little device in your hand allows you to pray for
others, read and share Scripture, communicate with your small group members, and watch
church online. It allows you to answer parishioner emails, set calendar appointments with staff,
dictate notes for sermons, and respond to emergencies in real time. This device also allows
holds a wealth of distractions that can easily get out of hand – social media, news feeds,
games, shopping, music, gambling, and the like. It presses our worldly culture into our eyes and
ears through our screens, where one post leads to the next. It is easy for us neglect spiritual
growth, quiet times with God, opportunities for service, reading the Bible, hearing from God, and
prayer. What causes us to constantly access the apps on our phones – Work? Boredom?
Posting our lives? Validation? Comparisons with others? What would your life be like if you
decidedly put down your phone to seek Jesus? A recent article by Mutsvairo, et al. (2022, p. 89)
found that “…electronic activity is perceived both be a tool of freedom as well as a subtle form of
potential digital enslavering.”

What are your digital habits? If your brave enough, look at the amount of time you spend on
your phone in a given day. Which apps are time-wasters that do not add to your life or your
calling in Christ? The Bible states we should have self-control and discipline (2 Timothy 1:7,
Titus 1:8, 1 Corinthians 9:27), we should not be dominated by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12), and
we should not be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2). My favorite verse related to the
overuse of technology is Proverbs 25:28: “A man without self-control is like a city broken into
and left without walls.” Has technology, let’s say an app, broken through your walls? On a scale
of 1-10, how would you rate your personal use of technology for distraction? 1 is no distraction
and 10 is extreme distraction. One last question: From a technology perspective, what can you
eliminate or add to make better use of your time and efforts?

Please don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that the use of technology is bad or inherently evil.
In no way am I saying that the overuse of technology can drive us into the world or away from
Godly practices. Let’s look at how we use technology (i.e. apps, number of hours, when we use
the apps, etc). I am simply asking a question: Do you drive your use of technology or does your
technology drive you? If you are brave enough, ask your spouse or a close friend how they view
your phone/technology habits. Does something need to change?

Here are a few suggestions:
1. Take part in a digital fast with friends, small group members, or as a church.
Consider The Digital Fast Workbook: Detox Your Mind and Reclaim What Matters Most
by Darren Whitehead.
2. Track your screen time. Your phone most-likely has the feature.
3. Set daily or weekly screen time limits.
4. Create screen-free zones and times (i.e. the dinner table, the bedroom, etc.).
5. Turn off app notifications.
6. Pursue offline activities (take a walk, pray, converse with others, read a book,
pick a new hobby, etc.).

References

Mutsvairo, B., Ragnedda, M., & Mabvundwi, K. (2022). ‘Our old pastor thinks the mobile
phone is a source of evil.’ Capturing contested and conflicting insights on digital
wellbeing and digital detoxing in an age of rapid mobile connectivity. Media
International Australia, 189(1), 89-103.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X221090992

Being Thankful at Thanksgiving

The holidays are fast approaching! In this blog post we will look at being thankful and grateful in a
season that may be fraught with anxiety, increased workloads, longer hours, higher expectations, and
more time with people. Let’s get into a mood of thankfulness through Scripture: Psalms 107:8-9 states,
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he
satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states that we are to
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I am reminded of the song the Carpenters made famous – There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays.
Do you think of your childhood Thanksgivings? Do you think of family responsibilities? The financial
costs? Time with family members that you may or may not want to spend time with? Society makes a
pointed turn to reminisce about the good old days of being at home with our loved ones. However, our
greatest source of pain, and our greatest source of love, is the family.

The church is expected to fill this role as the family of God. Unfortunately, the church is also a source of
great love and joy – and pain and hurt and sadness. Pastors and church members often have high
expectations about what the church should be or do as God’s family, and disappointment happens when
these expectations are not met.

Consider that Thanksgiving Day and the days prior to Thanksgiving can be stressful. I encourage you to
make a list of the things in life for which you are thankful. Your list may include aspects such as
salvation, parishioners, family members, home, health, work, friends, co-workers, food, etc. What
would add to this list?

Next, consider the causes of anxiousness or disagreements that occurred during past holidays. You
know, the holidays in which we are supposed to be extra thankful? Did you have more parishioners
share their problems during this season than usual? Did you find it hard to say ‘no’ because you felt a
sense of duty to shepherd the individuals in your flock? Pastors who are continually exposed to the
troubles of others may experience compassion fatigue, which can lead to anxiety, lack of purpose,
emotional disconnection, physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches, exhaustion, and
difficulties with personal relationships (Psychology Today, 2023) . Additionally, pastors may have
experienced anxiousness when trying to balance work and home expectations. Such past issues may
cause you to feel stressed, anxious, and even unthankful as we head into Thanksgiving.

Now that we have a list of positives (things for which we are thankful) and a list of negatives (past
causes of stress and anxiety), let’s use them to prepare for this year’s Thanksgiving. Below are a few
ways to increase your thankfulness and gratitude, while minimizing past causes of Thanksgiving stress:

 Be aware of compassion fatigue as you listen to the issues and traumas experienced by
parishioners. Over-empathizing can lead to the negative consequences associated with
compassion fatigue.

 Setting expectations with parishioners before the Thanksgiving holiday: “Guest Pastor Bill will be
speaking while I am away with family this Thanksgiving weekend.”

 It’s okay to delegate! Plan for specific individuals to assist you with parishioner requests.

 Repeating Scripture can help you relax. My favorite verse is Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the
Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do
not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

 Create a schedule to help with work-life balance. Share this schedule with the people it affects,
such as your spouse.

Of course, the list above is not exhaustive. What would you add to the list to help yourself prepare to be
thankful and grateful, while reducing stress? As we have seen, looking back at past holidays can help us
better prepare this this year’s holidays. However, your past Thanksgiving experiences do not dictate
how this Thanksgiving will turn out. We pray you make this the best Thanksgiving and that you find joy
in all that Thanksgiving has to offer.

References

Psychology Today. (2023). Compassion Fatigue. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from Psychology Today:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/compassion-fatigue

Welcome

This is the first of a long series of blogs about the need for pastors coping with the stress and strains of ministry. Our website is dedicated to providing resources and support for pastors dealing with burnout and vocational strain.

By way of introduction, the Center for Pastoral Renewal (CPR) is the result of many years of fruitful collaboration between Drs. Tom Frederick, Scott Dunbar, and Yvonne Thai due to the providence of the Lord. We are colleagues at a Christian university and have a commitment to using our academic skills to support the church and her shepherds.

Tom Frederick (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a tenured professor of psychology with over ten years of teaching experience in both online and in-person settings. Dr. Frederick has been published in a variety of journals. In the fall of 2021, Tom joined Drs. Jack and Judith Balswick for the 5th revision of their classic text, The Family: A Christian Perspective on the Contemporary Home. Tom has coauthored with Scott, A Christian Approach to Work and Family Burnout: Calling, Caring, and Connecting, which integrates Christian theological principles with cutting edge I-O Psych research on burnout.

Scott Dunbar (DBA, Liberty University) has been teaching in higher education since 2013 and worked in the business industry prior. He is a tenured associate professor, and administered master and doctoral level degree programs. Dr. Dunbar has been published in a variety of academic journals and his research revolves around the topics of burnout, work-family balance, differentiation in Christ, and work-family conflict. His publications are largely interdisciplinary and are often categorized in the realm of Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Dr. Dunbar, along with Dr. Frederick, published the book Calling, Caring and Connecting: A Christian Approach to Burnout Caused by Work and Family Conflict in 2019. Dr. Dunbar continues to publish original research and books on the topic of burnout related to higher education, pastors, and the concrete industry.

Yvonne Thai (PhD, UC Riverside) is a tenured professor of sociology with over fifteen years pf teaching experience in higher education. Dr. Thai served as department chair for behavioral sciences, program coordinator for sociology, and is a curriculum developer, specializing in undergraduate and graduate online and distance learning. Her current research focuses on emotional labor among service workers, particularly those in the helping professions. Together with Drs. Frederick and Dunbar, she has coauthored numerous works on the topic of pastoral burnout. She also serves on the editorial review team for MDPI Social Sciences and other behavioral science journals.

Our collaboration on understanding the unique experiences of pastoral burnout and the intent to provide practical resources for addressing it culminated in the the development of the CPR. The purpose of the Center for Pastoral Renewal is:

to provide spiritual and psychological resources to reduce stress and burnout experienced by Christian pastors and leaders. These spiritual and psychological resources aim to reduce pastors’ and leaders’ stress and burnout, while supporting pastors’ and leaders’ self-care, care-giving, and personal growth.

Our desire to focus on the individual, family, and congregational dimensions of pastoral burnout. In providing resources, grounded in the Christian faith and spiritual tradition, pastors will discern the signs and symptoms of burnout along with contextual factors that contribute to and are resources against burnout.

It is our prayer that the Lord will bless you through the ministry of the CPR.

Technology: A Blessing and A Curse?

Being Thankful at Thanksgiving

Welcome

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