A clergy friend of mine recently went through one of those periods in his pastorate when he had had 5…

Pause in the normal work of a presbytery meeting and ask people to spontaneously respond with a word of phrase…

We are exploring how a presbytery might help her churches in remembering who they are as the called people of…

As Israel was constantly learning, being set apart by God was less a reason for pride than of humble awe.…

I believe it was John Bright in his History of Israel who said that a major factor in preventing Israel…

I think we have about 11 Monday holidays on this country’s calendar. Since I normally took Mondays as my day…

You are in a blue funk. You are going through the motions, quite successfully, but internally you are hitting an…

Feelings are very mercurial. At one moment they are up and another time they are down. Sometimes we can attribute…

Acedia feeds upon the thought that nothing is worthwhile. Ecclesiastes gives expression to such thoughts. “Vanity of vanities, says the…

Yesterday we talked about utilizing those slivers of time that frequently happen during your day to compose some scrawled notes.…

If you want to combat acedia at any phase of your life or want to explore the future as you…

I found a combination of some spiritual disciplines and paying attention to some unexpected experiences in life helped me listen…

Yesterday I spoke of the temptation to acedia that can accompany your final years of active ministry. I mentioned that…

I’ve talked to several pastors lately who are entering the final decade of their active ministry. Some of them use…

I’ve been reading Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris. Actually I’ve been listening to it as I make this commute…

Continuing to look at how the session can support the pastor in nurturing his or her spiritual life, let us…

To a lay person, it might seem strange to suggest that a clergy needs to be encouraged to build in…

As mentioned yesterday, when we speak of clergy self-care, most people tend to focus on the personal physical and emotional…

A major contribution that a governing body can make in support of the pastors of their churches is to take…

Another obstacle to caring for self among clergy is the fear of appearing that they are whining or asking people…