Go out into the world...

I just found a webpage that is focused on physical health and offers a set of 60 second Aerobics that can be done in the office. You can go to the web, www.webmd.com/fitnessexercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk . Here is a peak at some of what they offer:

60-Second Aerobics

Improving your heart rate variability — your heart’s ability to jump from resting to “pumped” — has been shown to increase longevity and decrease heart disease risk.

While you shouldn’t give up on your home or gym exercise routine, you can certainly supplement it with exercises done at your desk (and, on those extra-long workdays, it’s much better than doing nothing.) Here are a few aerobic tricks to try during your next break between tasks:

* Glance at the wall clock and rip off a minute’s worth of jumping jacks. If you’re a beginner, try the low-impact version (raise your right arm and tap your left toe to the side while keeping your right foot on the floor; alternate sides)
* Do a football-like drill of running in place for 60 seconds. Get those knees up! (Beginners, march in place.)
* Simulate jumping rope for a minute: Hop on alternate feet, or on both feet at once. An easier version is to simulate the arm motion of turning a rope, while alternately tapping the toes of each leg in front.
* While seated, pump both arms over your head for 30 seconds, then rapidly tap your feet on the floor, football-drill style, for 30 seconds. Repeat 3-5 times.
* If you can step into a vacant office or conference room, shadow box for a minute or two. Or just walk around the room as fast as you can.
* Or do walk-lunges in your office or a vacant room. (You could also amuse your co-workers by doing these in the hall; remember Monty Python’s “Ministry of Silly Walks” comedy routine?). Set your PDA to beep you into action.
* No conference room? Take to the stairs — two at a time if you need a harder workout! Do this 5-7 times a day.

There is more at their website. It might be a way to begin or continue taking care of your physical body in the midst of a busy profession.

In Mark 6:31 and parallels, Jesus said to his disciples, “Come away to a deserted place all by ourselves and rest a while.”
In the 2008 research on Presbyterian pastors, it was reported on the issue of clergy and sabbaticals,

Fewer than one in four respondents have ever taken a sabbatical while in the ministry (22%). Most who have ever taken a sabbatical have taken one since 1999 (84%). Most received some funding for their most recent sabbatical (77%), primarily from their congregation (60%).
Large majorities report that the most recent sabbatical was “very helpful” or “helpful” for their:
o Emotional health (91%)
o Spiritual health (89%)
o Improvement in their ministerial duties (79%)
o Physical health (77%)

We need to build a strong interpretation for the value of sabbaticals for clergy. It is good that more clergy are beginning to take them but if three-fourths are not, and that is just among Presbyterians, then we need to do a better job of advocating for them. The response among those who have taken them is striking. We need a healthy clergy.

Those of us who are retired from active service could make a gracious gift by offering to assist churches when they support their clergy in taking a sabbatical. If we could remove the anxiety from congregations of how they will receive pastoral care during the sabbatical period, many more could see the advantage to having their pastor experience a period of recreation that will bring the pastor back with even more enthusiasm and spiritual depth.

I am a strong advocate of caring for our clergy. I think clergy should develop self-strategies of care because maintaining ones physical, emotional, and spiritual health is an important testimony to our faith. People who are passionate about their calling as ordained clergy can easily drive themselves to exhaustion trying to respond to the plethora of needs before them. Their ability to do that with some balance is a witness to many in their congregation who also have demanding schedules.

I also am an advocate of congregations learning how to care for their clergy. Too often congregations assume that their clergy will care for themselves or that if they wear out, it is simply a matter of getting a new one. From a practical perspective, searching for and adjusting to a new clergy person is an enormous expenditure of energy. Far better to provide the mechanisms of support and healthy relationship with your current clergy in a way that encourages long-term relationships.

There are many ways that the governing bodies above the congregations can act in ways that can support their clergy and encourage their congregations to maintain a healthy relationship. The Presbyterian Pastoral Care Network, www.pastoralcarenetwork.org , among others, can provide resources for governing bodies to do just that.

All that having been said, I am not an advocate for coddling clergy. Whether we look to our scriptural examples of people called by God or simply consider the current context of the church and our society, we should be under no illusions that effective and faithful ministry can be a comfortable and stress free profession. I hear stories about some clergy being so good at setting their boundaries that their congregations wonder where their priorities are. That is hardly a testimony to compassionate care. There are times that you will work 70 hours a week, struggle with emotionally draining issues, hurt deeply for others, and be forced to make compromises that tear at your soul. The truth is, that is ministry. But in the process, you can also build in habits and strategies that allow you to weave through the mine fields of ministry in a healthy manner.

It is important to recognize the compassion fatigue that is a natural part of your ministry. I’ve found an interesting web site that speaks of that and related articles that may help you in your ministry.

The symptoms of compassion fatigue are similar to those of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, only instead of the symptoms being based upon a trauma that you directly experienced, they are due to the trauma that your client(s) have experienced. Additionally, there is a cynical, discouraged or hopeless attitude about your work or your career that begins to set in. Paradoxically, you may find it difficult to leave your work at the end of the day. You may have thoughts that preoccupy you about a particular case. Being aware of what these symptoms mean and how they are affecting you is important. You can evaluate yourself with an excellent self-assessment tool that can be found at: http://www.proqol.org/ProQOl_Test_Manuals.html. While this checklist is more comprehensive a few of the predominant symptoms of compassion fatigue are listed below:

* Feeling estranged from others (Having difficulty sharing or describing feelings with others)
* Difficulty falling or staying asleep.
* Outbursts of anger or irritability with little provocation.
* Startling easily
* While working with a victim thinking about violence or retribution against the person or persons who victimized.
* Flashbacks connected to my clients and families.
* Needing more close friends.-feeling there is no one to talk with about highly stressful experiences.
* Working too hard for your own good.
* Frightened of things traumatized people and their family have said or done to me.
* Experience troubling dreams similar to a client of mine and their family.
* Experienced intrusive thoughts of sessions with especially difficult clients and their families.
* Suddenly and involuntarily recalled a frightening experience while working with a client or their family.
* Preoccupied with a client or their family.
* Losing sleep over a client and their family’s traumatic experiences.
* Felt trapped by my work as a helper.
* Felt a sense of hopelessness associated with working with clients and their families.
* Have felt weak, tired, rundown as a result of my work as a helper.
* Have felt depressed as a result of my work as a helper.
* Am unsuccessful at separating work from personal life.
* Feel little compassion toward most of my co-workers
* Thoughts that I am not succeeding at achieving my life goals.
* Feel I am working more for the money than for personal fulfillment.
* Find it difficult separating my personal life from my work life.
* A sense of worthlessness/disillusionment/resentment associated with my work.

Go to www.giftfromwithin.org for more valuable information.

It is not easy for small congregations to provide adequate salaries for full-time pastors. It is interesting to note in the survey that we have been looking at that clergy understand the challenge and recognize that most of their congregations are doing what they can under the circumstances. According to the survey:

Most consider their present compensation package “fair and reasonable” given the circumstances of the congregation (“yes, definitely,” 24%; “yes,” 36%; “yes, probably,” 24%). Similar percentages are “very satisfied” (16%), “satisfied” (48%), or “somewhat satisfied” (27%) with their compensation package. (Note that the survey asked about “family income” only, so there is no information on the dollar amount of each pastor’s compensation package.)

Many congregations and pastors have developed some creative ways to ease the financial stress.

More than one in three respondents receive reimbursement from their congregation or presbytery for medical or prescription deductibles (37%), and similar numbers (39%) have a flexible spending account for paying out-of-pocket medical costs. Somewhat fewer have a long-term care insurance policy (21%). Flexible spending accounts for paying for medical expenditures and long term insurance policies are ways that congregations can help without altering their overall budget.

Many clergy have found it helpful to attend a financial spending seminar. The Presbyterian Board of Pension offers some excellent help in this area but there are also private financial planners that can be worth the cost. The survey suggests that a number of clergy are seeking help in this manner.

Most respondents have attended a financial planning seminar, including a majority who have attended one offered by the Board of Pensions (51%). An overlapping 40% have taken such a seminar from a personal professional financial planner.

There is a reason that Jesus talked more about wealth than any other subject. Our response to financial issues can be a significant barrier in our financial journey. At the same time, if we see our use of resources as part of our faith journey, it can also be an appropriate witness.