Burnout in Churches and Christian Faith-Based Organisations
Burnout is a “syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity (Maslach 1996:193). This definition, whilst helpful, fails to convey the potentially life-shattering impact that burnout can have, as described in the words of ‘Peter’, a Christian leader who contributed to this guidance.
Burnout is a “syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity (Maslach 1996:193).
This definition, whilst helpful, fails to convey the potentially life-shattering impact that burnout can have, as described in the words of ‘Peter’, a Christian leader who contributed to this guidance.
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CASE STUDY 1: How an organisation made changes to become a healthier work<strong>in</strong>g<br />
environment<br />
A Director of a Youth Worker Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g M<strong>in</strong>istry provider made significant changes to his<br />
organisation when he began to see an unexpected number of youth workers leave the profession<br />
due to burnout. It saddened him to see gifted, positive, <strong>and</strong> passionate youth leaders lose their<br />
zest for youth work <strong>and</strong> leave the profession. He noticed the stark difference <strong>in</strong> appearance <strong>in</strong><br />
these youth workers. Those jo<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g looked full of life while those leav<strong>in</strong>g appeared completely<br />
exhausted, to the po<strong>in</strong>t that they lost the sparkle <strong>in</strong> their eyes <strong>and</strong> would focus on the negative<br />
aspects on life, church <strong>and</strong> m<strong>in</strong>istry, than the positive.<br />
One of the key aspects he explored with his supportive trustees was their organisational culture<br />
<strong>and</strong> values. As a result, one of their core values was to focus on personal health <strong>and</strong> well-be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> he created the follow<strong>in</strong>g support packages:<br />
1-to-1 support (different people for different roles):<br />
• Regular (weekly) time with l<strong>in</strong>e manager to check <strong>in</strong>, assur<strong>in</strong>g realistic workloads <strong>and</strong> work<br />
goals.<br />
• Regular (fortnightly) 1-to-1 with a mentor to explore personal as well as professional<br />
well-be<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
• Termly time with organisational representative regard<strong>in</strong>g m<strong>in</strong>istry placement.<br />
Community support:<br />
• Provided bi-monthly conferences for youth workers to get together to connect, worship<br />
<strong>and</strong> pray.<br />
• Provid<strong>in</strong>g weekly support groups (clusters) for connection, shar<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> prayer.<br />
• Provided ongo<strong>in</strong>g tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g for professional development support.<br />
• Provided referral list for counsellors <strong>and</strong> spiritual directors if required.<br />
Comments from the Director:<br />
“The change process was excit<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> dynamic. We saw a<br />
difference <strong>in</strong> the first couple of years through good engagement<br />
from both workers <strong>and</strong> churches. We were able to enforce changes<br />
<strong>in</strong> terms of support/supervision by say<strong>in</strong>g to churches that they<br />
needed to follow our support package if they wanted placement<br />
students <strong>in</strong> their church. This made life a lot easier as there wasn’t<br />
much kick back, but this would have been harder if placement<br />
churches did not buy <strong>in</strong>to our scheme. We began this cultural<br />
transformation over a decade ago <strong>and</strong> would not go back to old<br />
ways of do<strong>in</strong>g th<strong>in</strong>gs. We want to cont<strong>in</strong>ue learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> grow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> improv<strong>in</strong>g our organisational culture <strong>and</strong> practices. We now<br />
see graduat<strong>in</strong>g youth workers profess<strong>in</strong>g a grow<strong>in</strong>g walk with<br />
Jesus, a foundation for a lifetime of m<strong>in</strong>istry established <strong>and</strong> ready<br />
to go out <strong>and</strong> make a difference after be<strong>in</strong>g prepared well”.<br />
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