Episode 55: Ministry Burnout – The Basics
This is very special and personal episode of the podcast for me. In 2013, I developed Ministry Burnout and am just now getting to a stage of complete recovery. The 3 years in between have been some of the hardest years of my life. And while they have been really hard and have included depression, minor suicidal thoughts and a loss of much of my previous ministry, I’m also coming out of the time as a new Mike Falkenstine. I’m more compassionate, more trusting of others, and more focused on things that are really important.
My quick word for anyone whose found this podcast episode because you’re searching for answers through your own Burnout journey is this: First, you will get through it and you will recover and Second, lean hard into what God is doing in this season of your life and get all you can out of it because He’s putting you through this for a reason. Finally, please feel free to contact me via the contact details on this website. I’d love to help you in any way I can!
Here are a couple of the key resources I found helpful as I was trying to figure out what was going on with me, and then how to recover:
Carey Nieuwhof Blog Posts on Burnout
Because I am a small ministry guy, I didn’t have the big team of people to help me through Ministry Burnout, so I had to find some of my own resources on how to diagnose ministry burnout and how to recover. Carey Nieuwhof, a pastor in Canada, was one of the key people God used to help me. Carey’s blog posts in particular, were so helpful! I realized that what was happening to me was not unusual, was not wrong, and that there was a road to recovery.
Enrichment Journal Article On Burnout
Of the best articles I’ve found for understanding what Ministry Burnout is, what the normal symptoms are and provides a pretty clear road to recovery
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