Leading the Church of God as an elder can be exhausting to body and soul. The challenges of pastoral leadership wear out and wear down the best of men. When these leaders find themselves unable to continue to provide healthy leadership, they may be experiencing vocational burnout. This project seeks to equip church leaders with the skills to resist burnout and build resilience.

The project director reviewed an extensive amount of literature, both from the secular and sacred communities, to develop insight into the nature of burnout and the practices that prevent burnout and encourage personal and professional health. The director's studies produced a working definition of burnout and self-care. Readers will find an extensive description of burnout's symptoms and stages. In the area of self-care, readers will discover a special emphasis on the common demands and pressures faced by pastors along with a variety of insights from ministry experts on best practices to ensure a whole-personed experience of health. The director's summary of his findings is published in appendix E, "A Pastor's Manual for Resisting Burnout and Building Resilience."

This resilience, built into the body and soul, provides a reservoir of physical and spiritual health that blesses the pastor personally, relationally, and professionally. These practices deepen the pastor's life, protects the pastor's family, and increases the quality and longevity of his pastoral ministry. Pastors who practice biblically wise self-care can resist burnout, build resilience, and set a God-honoring example to those they lead.