For pastors and church workers to function well in their vocation, these fundamentals can be helpful. After all, you cannot “pour from an empty cup”. A few basics for spiritual well-being include:

• 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 (See Luther’s Rules for Studying Scripture below).
• 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. Martin Luther provides advice on praying out loud from Scripture, according to King David.

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. In dealing with this disappointment, we may pour out our 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.

The Church & Mental Suffering

This interview with Rev. Dr. Harold Ristau 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