Church Fatigue

There's two kinds of church fatigue. And wouldn't it be awesome if recognizing the signs were as brilliant and straightforward as this?

One kind is experienced by the congregation. Dangerous, as parishioners start checking out; tired of volunteering or the politics or other Christians, of personality differences...if you've been in church for anything extended length of time, you could probably add to the list.

The other is experienced by pastors and administrators. Equally dangerous, if not to greater effects. Pastors might start "winging" sermons; not doing due diligence to the study and preparation of God's Word. Deacons get caught up in other business matters in the community or outside of the church, so they might not be offering their best counsel to the Pastor or full devotion to their ministry. Staff feels overworked and underpaid (don't think that only happens in corporate America). While we're at it, don't forget maintenance is tired of picking up bulletins left in the sanctuary and whatever messes remain after VBS!

Major crash zone for the church, where both groups experience this with any significant overlap in their timing, or God forbid, at the same time.

Pray this will be averted. Too many Pastors are already exiting the ministry. Who knows how many churches are hemorrhaging deacons and staff positions...and countless churches are losing congregations, as culture become more...(cynical feels like an understatement) towards the things of God and the church. Pray for such trends to be reversed. Pray, in particular, for deacons and staff to be renewed and energized in their commitment to their church and ministry. May encouragement to Pastors and parishioners start with them and as people who enter church see strong support systems and people in place within the church, it will speak clearly that the church is healthy and functioning properly. Pray for an increased awareness for signs of fatigue, that appropriate steps will be taken to resolve situations before crashes start causing long delays and backups within the church, and the body of Christ at-large.

-PNC

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