Why is pastoral ministry so stressful?

"The reasons may be as numerous and unique as there are pastors. However, recent research is unanimous in citing the following problem areas: the disparity between (somewhat idealistic) expectations and hard reality; lack of clearly defined boundaries - tasks are never done; workaholism ('bed-at-the-church' syndrome); the Peter Principle - feeling of incompetence in leading an army of volunteers; conflict in being a leader and servant at the same time ('line-support contamination'); intangibility - how do I know I'm getting somewhere?; confusion of role identity with self image - pastors derive too much self-esteem from what they do; time management problems (yet pastors have more 'discretionary time' than any other professional group); paucity of 'perks'; multiplicity of roles; inability to produce 'win-win' conflict resolutions; difficulty in managing interruptions; the 'little adult' syndrome (Dittes) - clergy are too serious, they have difficulty being spontaneous; preoccupation with 'playing it safe' to avoid enraging powerful parishioners; 'administration overload' - too much energy expended in areas of low reward; loneliness - the pastor is less likely to have a close friend than any other person in the community." Roland Croucher

Arch Hart talks

For the last few days I've been listening to these talks and reading this book by Arch Hart. There is much to challenge me in my management of myself (although I don't have depressive tendencies) and in my parenting. AH predicts that within 10 years, all teenagers will be on antidepressants because of over-stimulation of the pleasure-center of the brain (by multi-tasking on electronic media) which leads to anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure). He also has much to say about church services and anhedonia - which I may write about another time.

Do listen to these talks if you're not aware of this stuff.

I'm on the computer less as a result!