Anne Jackson, Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic. Zondervan, 2009.
Referenced in: Preventing and Overcoming Ministry Burnout
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
There are several good texts that address burnout, but in my opinion, this is the best, especially for those who have been wounded in relation to the church. It underscores what many people connected to the church know, ministry hurts deeply. Jackson writes out of her own painful experiences as a pastor’s daughter and as a church staff member. She laces her journey with responsible reflection on the psychological, spiritual, and professional dimensions of burnout as experienced by those who “work at churches.” And this is not limited to paid ministers, but to all of those who invest themselves in congregational life, often disappointingly. Another special feature of this book is that it represents the feedback she has received from several hundred who have followed her blog on the issue.
Do not expect a pity party. Expect to be led into honest, hard, and hopeful work in restoring passion for ministry. Do expect an incredibly well written book. It is my first recommendation for anyone experiencing burnout. You will cry, laugh, get mad, feel surges of hope, say ouch, and come out better equipped.
Each chapter is followed by a feature called “Exam Room” that leads the reader into probing questions about their own condition. Then, following the “Mad Church Disease” model, she often provides a “second opinion” by including interviews with experienced church leaders such as Bill Hybels, Perry Noble, Mike Foster, Wayne Cordeiro, Matt Carter, Shawn Wood, Gary Kinnaman, and Brandi Wilson.
The book is divided into four parts:
- Part 1: How the Burnout Epidemic is Killing the Greatest Call – Here Jackson develops the “Mad Church Disease” model and describes how pervasive it is.
- Part 2: Am I as Risk? Examining Risk Factors and Symptoms
- Part 3: Getting Better: Presents five principles of recovery
- Part 4: A Path to Healing and Recovery: Looks at spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational health as tools to process the pain
From the Publisher
Growing up the daughter of a pastor, Anne Jackson experienced firsthand the conflict, stress, and struggle church leaders often face.
She vowed her life in ministry would be different.
Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. After being released from the hospital, an associate pastor asked her, “Does working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?”
The question was paramount in turning her life around. Thinking she wasn’t alone, Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of burnout.
Using anecdotal parallels between Mad Cow Disease and leadership trends in the church, she writes not only to help us realize what church leaders are facing, but also to provide practical and positive treatment plans.
Mad Church Disease is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry—vocational or volunteer—who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.
About the Author
Anne Jackson has traveled all over the world using online media to tell stories of those living in poverty. Anyone wielding a computer and an internet connection can contribute something to make the world a better place, yet so many stories are unfinished, just waiting for you to enter the scene.
She is an author, blogger (at FlowerDust.net), speaker, and transformational activist who lives in the Nashville area with her husband, Chris. She is a contributor to the Christianity Today Blog her.meneutics and Deadly Viper Character Assassins, and has written for PurposeDriven.com, Outreach Magazine, Catalyst Groupzine, and a variety of other ink and paper (as well as digital) publications.
Anne is on staff at Cross Point Church and enrolled in the Diploma of Ministry Studies Program at Rockbridge Seminary.
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