Additional Resources

I Trust When Dark My Road: www.darkmyroad.org
  • LCMS Pastor Todd Peperkorn’s blog deals primarily with mental health issues (incl. depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, etc.), the theology of the cross, and the pastoral office.
  • His book, Dark My Road, details his experience with major clinical depression and is available free of charge Here.
Doxology Resources: www.doxology.us
Shepherd’s Canyon Retreat Ministry: www.shepherdscanyonretreat.org
  • A Recognized Service Organization of the LCMS which provides help to pastors, other full-time ministry workers and their spouses in the midst of stress, burnout, depression, compassion fatigue, and conflicts through week-long counselling retreats.

Helpful Links

Employee Assistance Program (EAP): www.lccbenefits.ca
  • You will be prompted to search for your organization. Please type in “Lutheran Church Canada” (no dash).
LCC Worker Benefit Services: www.lccbenefits.ca
  • You can also find support contact information on LCC’s website Here.

For pastors and church workers to function well in their vocation, a few fundamentals are needed. After all, you cannot “pour from an empty cup”.

A few basics for spiritual well-being are as follows:

  • Having a Father Confessor who tends to your own soul – a pastor who would hear the confessions of the penitent must also be a penitent himself.
  • Regular practice of oral prayer from God’s Word. Below is Dr. Martin Luther’s advice on how to pray, as King David himself teaches us. 
  • Having friends outside of your congregation in the community (not just brother clergy or fellow church workers). 
  • Having reasonable, Scriptural expectations in ministry. 

Prayer as part of Church Worker Well-being

For the good of their spiritual health, a pastor or church worker must have a regular habit of prayer. Our spiritual father, the blessed Doctor Martin Luther, gives the following advice on praying out loud from Scripture, as he learned it from King David in Scripture: 

Luther's Rules for Studying Scripture

Dealing with Suffering and Disappointment

God does not always meet our expectations. Suffering happens that we do not expect. When suffering happens in the course of being a pastor or Christian we sometimes get angry at or apathetic toward God. The best way to deal with this disappointment is to pour out your complaint to the Lord in prayer (Psalm 142:2), to lament it, just as the psalmists did in the psalms of lament. 

The following outline, by Dr. John Kleinig, is a useful guide for your own prayers for how the Psalmists addressed their complaints to the Lord. Meditate on and identify your own hurts and disappointments. Then use the psalms of lament as a guide to your own lamenting those hurts to the Lord. In prayer, through His Word, the Lord can provide great healing from bitterness and disappointment.

Psalms of Lament in Pastoral Care

The Church & Mental Suffering

This interview is divided into eleven short sections, dealing with topics including:

  • Shame, guilt & other pressures facing pastors and parishioners
  • Mental illness & spiritual warfare
  • Ministering in abnormal circumstances

[PLEASE NOTE: Sensitive subject matter is included in the actual resource, including discussion of topics like suicide and suicidal ideation. Discretion is advised]

Questions Concerning The Church & Mental Suffering

Interview with Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau

Harold Ristau (PhD, McGill University), serves as Associate Professor at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario. As both parish pastor and military chaplain, Ristau has ministered in various multicultural settings providing pastoral ministry and crisis counselling in unique contexts.

He is an author of a wide range of books, including At Peace with War: A Chaplain’s Meditations from Afghanistan, which received a CDS commendation for its benefits as a training tool in preparing military personnel both mentally and spiritually for overseas deployments. He has also written extensively on spiritual warfare and spiritual resilience. He is married with 5 children.

When Life’s Great Trials Cast You Down

Hymn: When Life’s Great Trials Cast You Down
Lyrics: Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt
Tune: ACH BLEIB BEI UNS – LSB 585

“The hymn was given to me, while I was sitting by the lake in the quiet of a still morning with the creation testifying to the presence and goodness of God. It came to me as my heart and mind were prayerfully on someone very dear to me, who is struggling with hopelessness in these dark and trying days.

The trials of the pandemic have caused the traumas of this person’s past to resurface making this present time all the harder to bear. Other trials and troubles along with the worry and cares that go with them have worked together to rob them of hope for the present and the future. Once again, I have seen that as I have shared it with others, Christ’s comfort given to me to give to this person has comforted others as well, giving meaning and purpose to this person’s suffering, as their trials have resulted in others being comforted in Christ.” – Pastor Reinhardt

Download it as a Printable PDF for your church

When Life's Great Trials Cast You Down

Printable Poster of the Hymn by Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

Forever Bound by Endless Love

Hymn: Forever Bound by Endless Love
Lyrics: Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt’s Forever Bound by Endless Love is a hymn of comfort and consolation to those who are facing the death of a loved one. Reinhardt is a hymnwriter and pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kurtzville, Ontario. His volume of poetry entitled My Light and My Salvation features “Baptismal Waters Cover Me”, which you may recognize as Hymn 616 in the Lutheran Service Book. The photo included in the printable poster version was taken by Anna Kraemer, Lutheran Church–Canada’s Communications Intern for the summer of 2021.

Download it as a Printable PDF for your church

Forever Bound by Endless Love

Printable Poster of the Hymn by Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

O Hear Your Saints Our Gracious Lord

Hymn: O Hear Your Saints Our Gracious Lord
Lyrics: Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

“This piece came to me as I have been providing pastoral care to one of the Lord’s saints who has had to have multiple surgeries in a short time to try and deal with a recurring infection from an initial surgery. The journey has been a long and hard one for her and her family. She loves the Lord’s house but she, like many others these days, has not been able to come for several months now.

The hymn came to my heart in response to her struggle, set within the broader struggle of all God’s saints with the pandemic. As I shared the text with others, it became clear that no small part of the reason why this dear woman was asked to endure this trial was so that the word of comfort offered to her might comfort others.”

Download it as a Printable PDF for your church

O Hear Your Saints O Gracious Lord

Printable Poster of the Hymn by Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

Lord Jesus When We Sit Alone

Poem: Lord Jesus When We Sit Alone
Lyrics: Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt

Lutheran Church–Canada pastor and hymnwriter, Rev. Kurt Reinhardt’s poem “Lord Jesus When We Sit Alone” is written for those who are lonely at Christmas.

“Sitting here in my office with all our roads closed on Christmas Eve my thoughts turned to those who can’t be with those they love at Christmas,” shared Reinhardt.

“Lord Jesus when we sit alone

On snowy days at Christmas,

And our poor hearts with sorrow moan,

Be near with grace to cheer us.

Remind us of the lonely stall

Where you were born to save us,

Far from your family’s joyful hall

That celebrated Christmas.”

Download it as a Printable PDF for your church

Lord Jesus When We Sit Alone

Printable Poster of the poem by Rev. Kurt E. Reinhardt