A Fresh Start

By Marc Brule

Burnout. No one wants it. No ones enjoys it. Can it be avoided? Can you recover from it? Marc Brule shares his story of burnout after 29 years of pastoring, and his subsequent recovery. The principles presented are clear and practical. A balance of information and story bring engaging and beneficial thoughts. This book is beneficial to pastors, leadership teams, boards, and generally to anyone.

Some topics covered are:

Signs of burnout and depression
Burnout recovery
Mental, emotional and physical rest
Managing energy levels
Relationship management
Policies and expectations

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marc Brule
• Release date: Mar 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781777048501

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Burnout Happens

STOP!

MANY OF US are in the habit of skipping the foreword and preface of a book and jumping right into the chapters. I ask you to take the extra few minutes to go back and read the forward and preface before you dig into the rest of the book. They are short but important. They are key to framing the rest of the content of this book.

MY STORY

IT WAS A monthly Sunday evening Encounter service. I was in my office beforehand, and suddenly I felt my heart pounding. I felt something was very wrong. All that was going through my mind was, I can't go out there and have anyone need me. I was shaking. I wondered if I was going to have a heart attack. It was a terrifying moment. It was my first ever panic attack. I took a few minutes to get myself together and finally, did go out into the service. I did survive. I went home feeling quite upset about what had taken place. I was afraid—for myself—about the future. Could I keep going on like this? And so began a long process toward wholeness.

I sensed a call to ministry at the age of six. Even in my turbulent teens, as I wrestled with temptation and played both sides of the fence, I still knew deep down in my heart that I was called to full-time ministry.

By age twenty three, I had become the senior pastor of a struggling church. We, as a church, worked through the struggles, grew, got out of debt, and flourished. It was not without its challenges but was well worth every bit of heart and investment.

When I first recognized burnout in my life, I had pastored that same church for almost twenty-nine years. During those years I had also led the city ministerial for fifteen years, been the national worship leader for Promise Keepers Canada, sat on the boards of two national ministries, and provided some mentoring and support to other pastors. Married for thirty years with three children that loved and served God (and still do), I considered myself blessed from pretty well every angle.

However, some long-term subtle stresses and unhealthy practices in my life were slowly creeping in and invading my personal world. Some seemed quite benign. Nighttime snacking while watching Netflix hardly seemed harmful, yet the drive behind the behaviour was where the problem really lay. I was escaping by numbing and self-medicating with food and entertainment. Neither are inherently evil. This is why burnout can be so deceiving; it can mask itself in seemingly neutral behaviours.

It all came to a point of crisis in April, 2015. By then, I was watching four to five hours of Netflix television series a day both at the office and at home. My productivity dropped significantly, yet I could still prep and preach well, counsel others, cover the basics of administration, envision and work toward the church's future, and generally, do well at family life. Then, seemingly suddenly, I felt my life spin out of control. I faced temptations that overwhelmed me and tormented my mind. I ate snack foods uncontrollably. I watched, and watched, and watched TV programs and movies. In all of this, I experienced guilt and shame, yet that drove me more into unhealthy coping strategies. Then it hit me at the church on that Sunday evening I described.

On Tuesday, two days later, as I was preparing for our office staff meeting, I was experiencing something totally different. I was not fearful, I was cold—very cold. I had the thermostat set at 24℃ (75℉) which is quite warm in the Canadian spring weather, yet I was wearing a jacket zipped up to the neck and was still shivering. When I walked into the main office and asked if anyone was cold, the answer was a clear no.

Now I knew something was significantly wrong. Not only was I out of control, but my body was showing significant signs of stress. I made an appointment with a Christian therapist. My opening statement to her was, I feel like I’m slipping off a tin roof and have nothing to grab on to. And so began the long journey toward restoration and health.

The process was arduous—for me, for my family, and for the church. However, the growth and health that resulted from it are a testimony to God's