Is there anyone here today dealing with stress? Just looking out, I see a lot of people who are all stressed up and no place to go. Stress is a problem. Believe it or not, this is a problem for the pastor. In a recent Los Angeles Times article, psychologist Richard Blackmon said, “Pastors are the single most occupationally frustrated group in America.”

About 75% of pastors go through a period of stress so great that they consider quitting the ministry; 35-40% actually do. Incidents of mental breakdown are so high that insurance companies charge about 4% extra to cover church staff members compared to employees in other professions.1

A recent study by the Fuller Institute of Church Growth found that 90% of pastors work more than 46 hours a week; 90% feel that they are inadequately trained…