Taking care about what you are singing

Christian song writers can certainly have a knack for finding the most bewildering and cringeworthy song lyrics.  Sometimes, it ends up being silly and amusing. Sometimes, context just makes a hymn inappropriate and sometimes we suffer from the way that words and phrases have changed meaning and usage over time.  For example, a few centuries… Continue reading Taking care about what you are singing

Serving with a limp – checking in on your mental health

We’re coming up to the third anniversary of my significant brush with anxiety and depression. It was back in November 2019 that I found myself signed off from work followed by quite a challenging and tumultuous period of time (and all of that before we hit COVID). I’ve told some of my story here and… Continue reading Serving with a limp – checking in on your mental health

Church PTSD – listening to outside voices

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Over the past couple of days I’ve shared a couple of posts drawing on observations that psychologists make about trauma and suggesting some lessons for church leaders. Some of us might be a little bit nervous of seeing articles that appear to draw primarily from secular thinking. I mean, there’s huge scepticism about the ability… Continue reading Church PTSD – listening to outside voices

Is it just psychobabble?

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Over the past couple of days I’ve shared a couple of posts drawing on observations that psychologists make about trauma and suggesting some lessons for church leaders. Some of us might be a little bit nervous of seeing articles that appear to draw primarily from secular thinking. I mean, there’s huge scepticism about the ability… Continue reading Is it just psychobabble?

Revitalisation and the traumatised church

I’ve mentioned a few times now that sometimes a church acts and feels as though it has been through a form of corporate or collective trauma and is suffering corporate PTSD.  There may have been a number of factors leading up to this including specific events within the life of the church such as the… Continue reading Revitalisation and the traumatised church

Is it burnout?

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I’ve seen a few articles talking about burnout among those in church leadership over the past few weeks. These seem to be particularly in response to the experience of leaders through the COVID-19 pandemic which has in many ways amplified many of the challenges of Gospel ministry. One helpful contribution to the discussion was this… Continue reading Is it burnout?

PTSD and church revitalisation

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 A little while back I wrote about how churches can experience a form of PTSD or complex PTSD.  You see, a church can experience trauma leading to experiences and responses that affect the life of the church.  Trauma for a church might include: A split where members of the church fall out, argue publicly and… Continue reading PTSD and church revitalisation

Pastors and PTSD

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From time to time I write specifically about the impact of mental health issues on pastors and church leaders. I’ve recently returned to the subject again writing about depression here and here.  I wanted to follow up these articles by writing a little about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is described on the MIND… Continue reading Pastors and PTSD

When did you last hear a pastor talk about mental health issues?

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In my recent survey about application and what pastors talked about, I asked respondents to indicate whether or not they’d heard pastors address particular issues within the last 5 years. One issue concerned mental health. This is such an important subject to address within our churches because as we preach and pastor we are so… Continue reading When did you last hear a pastor talk about mental health issues?