Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts

This list is from Thom S. Rainer of Lifeway Christian Resources.  It caused me pause this week.  While I wouldn't say we're "sick" at Girdwood Chapel, we're working hard to keep our financial difficulties from sending us down the road to sickness.  Oh...and we should probably make prayer more of a priority.

So, look at the list below.  How would your church look in light of this list?  Sick?  Healthy? In between?

What do you think?.

1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve.

2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other churches in the community, or they are leaving the local church completely. A common exit interview theme we heard was a lack of deep biblical teaching and preaching in the church.

3. The church is experiencing conflict over issues of budgets and building. When the focus of church members becomes how the facilities and money can meet their preferences, church health is clearly on the wane.

4. Corporate prayer is minimized. If the church makes prayer a low priority, it makes God a low priority.

5. The pastor has become a chaplain. The church members view the pastor as their personal chaplain, expecting him to be on call for their needs and preferences. When he doesn’t make a visit at the expected time, or when he doesn’t show up for the Bible class fellowship, he receives criticism. In not a few cases, the pastor has lost his job at that church because he was not omnipresent for the church members.

Today I head to the Alaska State Fair.

The Donut Burger was highly recommended to me.

I don't think its 1500 calories is something I'd be able to "walk off" during the day.

Found this over at Pastor Dan's Grace Notes from Anchorage, just up the road about 35 miles or so.  Pastor Dan's blog post was entitled "Commie God."  Not sure I have the guts to do that.  However, I do agree that there are some, let's say, more "socialistic" aspects of the Kingdom of God expressed in Scripture that doesn't get the same play from those who most vocally want to return to a Judeo-Christian politics.  There's a whole lot in the Bible that deals with health care and poverty and unity that we'd have to deal with.  While some on the Christian "left" my talk about all of this as "social justice" I think it sounds a whole lot like socialism when you hear it from the right.

Perhaps a better question of whether we'd want God as president is whether God could possibly be elected?

I'm thinking God wouldn't have a chance.

Image via WikipediaThis comes from Jeff Strickler at the Star Tribune of Minneapolis:

When it comes to keeping off excess weight, it appears that members of the clergy don't have a prayer.

A recent study funded by Duke Divinity School found that, on average, ministers make up the chubbiest profession. But this is one of those good news/bad news deals: The good news is that a separate survey by the University of Chicago found that preachers also tend to be the most-satisfied workers.

Yes, we're talking about people who embody the stereotypical image of someone who is fat and happy....

Although the studies were done separately, they arrive at a common touch point. Clergy tend to be the happiest in their jobs -- 87 percent describe themselves as "very satisfied" -- because much of their workday is spent caring for and helping others. At the same time, they tend to be the heaviest -- 40 percent of those in the Duke study qualified as obese -- because rushing around helping people all day wreaks havoc on their exercise and diet habits.

I have heard this for years...that ministers tend to be one of the least healthy professions.  Our insurance company is on us for this and many of us clergy in the United Methodist Church are "pedometer happy," and record the number of steps we take in order to save on some insurance costs.  There are a lot of factors at play.  Here are a few aspects of ministry that I think may have something to do with the "fat" part of the the "fat and happy":

1. Tends to be sedentary.  (Reading.  Studies.  Counseling.  Writing.  Conversation.)
2. Tends to be stressful and eating is a prime way of dealing with stress.  (Few laypersons have a grasp of how big a burden it is to bear many other persons' burdens.)
3. The lack of a traditional 9-5 work day can get in the way of a regular eating schedule.
4. A lot of ministry revolves around food (although less so at Girdwood Chapel).  We have our pot-lucks and coffee and donuts at "Fellowship Time."  Moreover, congregational members tend to feed us well when we show up at their homes.  And I do some of my best counseling work with a latte and a muffin at a coffee shop.
5. Inability to be a "weekend warrior" for athletic pursuits since we're busy most weekends...at least on Sundays.

All of this can lead to a relatively unhealthy lifestyle if we pastors aren't making a concerted effort to be healthy.  That's what I'm doing as of late and have lost about forty pounds in the last six months or so.  I may still be "fat" but I'm a lot less fat than I was at this time last year.  And if my performance climbing our local ski mountain yesterday afternoon is any indication, the weight loss is working.  While my flat feet were still a bother, my back didn't hurt.  I felt pretty good.

No matter how fat I WAS, AM, or WILL BE, I still remain "happy."  There are so many aspects of ministry that I love being involved in.  I love the preaching.  I love the singing.  I love the service towards the community.  And, even though it's one of the main stressors of ministry--perhaps leading to some of my own overeating issues--I love being involved in persons' lives when they are in need of counseling, support, or a word of grace.  Sometimes that 9-5 job looks attractive...a job where I'd just need to punch the clock and do some repetitive task without getting emotionally involved in anyone else's business.  But those thoughts are fleeting and I go back to working with people.

I still have some more weight to lose until I get down to number that I think is both sustainable and healthy.  And I don't doubt that I'll get there.  Nevertheless, it appears the track record we pastors have indicates that I'll have my work cut out for me keeping that weight off. 

Perhaps my congregation can be an asset in helping me keep it off...rather than a hindrance in the process.  Meetings while cross-country skiing?  Salad pot-lucks?  Exercise classes in our new church?

There really is no judgment here.  Over the last few years we've seen our largest employer in the community take away health care coverage for workers--just too expensive to maintain.  We've seen persons who used to go to the clinic when they were sick switch to being persons who don't go until they are very, very, very sick--and sometimes that's to the ER.  We, as a congregation, have come to the aid of persons facing medical bills they will never get out from under.

And, really, there is no judgment here.  There's enough blame to go around--insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, people abusing the system seeking unnecessary treatment, persons who have great insurance not willing to give any portion of that up for some "common good," and a governmental system of bureaucracy that makes it nearly impossible to keep records.  It's a mess.

And it's an expensive mess.

This is a comparison of US costs with other countries in the Western World.  Very interesting.  See the full sized one on DataVis.

Image via WikipediaI sit here in the local coffee shop, Girdwood's "The Grind," music playing in the background, coffee at my side, laptop on...well...my lap.  For four days in a row I got up at 5:30 AM to get my son up and see him off to the High School bus at 6:10 AM.   And, for four days in a row, I went and got some exercise, at the gym or at home, before the others were up.  For days!  It's good for me.  I only need to do that about a billion more times and I might be in marginally better shape than I am as I sit here.

But, this morning, I didn't get up early.  I knew last night going to bed that I was tired.  This 5:30 AM thing was hard.  And it is made harder that I don't go to bed early enough and am known to be a horrible sleeper (waking up in the middle of the night each night).  So, at 11 PM last night, I knew that I needed some extra sleep, particularly if I had to be in Anchorage tonight and then early tomorrow AM all over again.

So, I slept. 

And I slept hard.

And I slept well.

But I find myself here at 9:11 AM in the morning and I've not exercised.  The day is coming on.  It's still dark, but that sun is going to come out over the mountains within the hour or so.  And I will not have exercised.

Will I be able to "squeeze it in?"  Will I "find the time?"  Will "something else come up?"

I really didn't make any official "resolutions" this year, but as I look at myself and my health and my future, I'm pretty well aware of the fact that getting into shape would be a good thing for me and all those who love me.  It's true.  So, I kind of unofficially resolved to lose 20 lbs in the next few months.  Vague, I know, but with some willpower I'm sure I could do it.

And I'm left with a quandary that many (or maybe ALL) of us find ourselves in.  It's a whole lot easier to make resolutions than it is to keep them.  You know.  Think of all the resolutions that never become habits...all those promises made internally that are not kept.

In the same way, as we look at our lives of faithfulness, it's a whole lot easier to say we're going to "read our Bibles every day" or "pray each morning" or "go to Sunday School" or work our giving up to "the Biblical tithe."  But, life happens.  Tough times come.  We feel sick.  We need extra sleep.  There's something better on TV.  It's too cloudy.  It's too rainy.  It's too sunny.  Whatever our excuse it.  It's a lot harder to keep our resolutions than it is to make them.  And we find ourselves in a coffee shop, alone with our thoughts at night, talking with our pastor or spouse or friend and realize that we haven't followed through on that faithful practice we had, at some level, convinced ourselves that we were going to follow through with.

Reminds me of the following scene from Seinfeld where he finds that a rental car company is better at "taking" reservations than "holding" them.

Here's the video:



And here's the text:

JERRY: I don’t understand…I made a reservation. Do you have my reservation?
AGENT: Yes, we do. Unfortunately, we ran out of cars.
JERRY: But, the reservation keeps the car here. That’s why you have the reservation.
AGENT: I know why we have reservations.
JERRY: I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation–you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And, that’s really the most important part of the reservation…the holding. Anybody can just TAKE them. [grabs chaotically at air]

I sit here in the coffee shop.  As the day goes on it's a lot harder to follow through with my commitment to get some exercise today. 

Will this post hold me accountable?

Perhaps that's the issue with our resolutions and our commitments to faithfulness.  We don't have any accountability.  So, how should we hold people accountable in the church?

Image via WikipediaThere's been a lot of talk, lately about the New York Times piece about clergy burnout.  It turns out that researchers and doctors (and clergy) are finding greater instances of depression and hypertension and generally poor health.  I know to some laypersons this may be a "calling from God" but seems like a very easy job.  After all, some assume, we only work a few hours a week.  But, those in the know or those who really know some clergy can tell you that there is a lot more entailed in this job of ours and many of us are happy to complain about it or brag about it if given the chance.

There are a lot of expectations from churches to "be there" for everything...everywhere...and to be on every committee.  (I've been more blessed than some of my colleagues because Girdwood Chapel has allowed me to be pretty flexible in my schedule and, frankly, there aren't that many committees to be on!)  And, more, there is a certain amount of emotional weight taken on as we deal with the joys and burdens of those around us.

But, I still have hypertension.  It's not "real" bad but I guess it could be if I don't start paying more attention to some things.  You know, little things like diet, exercise, and stress relief.

One of the problems with serving at Girdwood Chapel has been a lack of an "office" space.  Working from home I have a hard time separating work from...well...non-work.  Family lines and church lines blur a lot. Some of that is to be expected from being a pastor.  I think most clergy have some issues here.  But, other times I just have trouble feeling like I give both family AND work what they deserve.

I think there are some expectations Girdwood Chapel and I have to have with each other as we move forward.  I think they should expect that I'll lead by example...working hard to find "Sabbath Rest" in a work week that blurs with my home life.  I think they should expect that I'll be getting some exercise, taking care of myself.  After all, this is a community that prides itself on their activity in the great outdoors.  I think they should expect that I'll have some sort of devotional life--not just because it helps me grow closer to God, but because it's a healthy thing to do as well.  We are after all, talking about physical health here.

And, I should have some expectations of the church.  I think, first and foremost, I should expect that the persons who are coming here are looking not just for what they can get out of it, but what they can put into it ("Ask not what your church can do for you...but what you can do for your church.")  Sometimes, clergy can get the sense that "it's all up to them."  And I confess that thought crosses my mind at time...even if I know it's not true.  What may be up to me is making sure we have the systems in place to train persons to take that kind of leadership so, really, it's not all up to the pastor.

A commenter over at Think Christian said something that I thought was very appropriate as I was thinking about this post:

Part of the difficulty here is that pastoral work is notoriously border-free and pastors themselves are incredibly diverse in terms of interests, gifts, focus, etc. Churches and their traditions also vary widely in ways that impact this area.

For me a big help has been to continue to work on sharpening my focus of what the gospel is and how it connects with the rest of life. I believe a pastor has an area of unique ownership in the broader labor economy of the church and it is not always easy to articulate it and defend its boundaries. I find Eugene Peterson very helpful on these matters.

So, how can I work on articulating the boundaries and expectations?

How can I ensure that, in my flexible days I regimented in devotions and exercise?

How can I work to train up leaders in the church?

All good questions.

The New York Times has an article about clergy health.  It's not good.

The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen.

Many would change jobs if they could.