凡是帮助别人的人，都要承受燃烧殆尽的代价。
本来要学另一门课——“Spiritual Coach”，结果选课的人太少，被学校取消了。所以就和一群过去的、现在的、未来的随军牧师们一起上了一门“Self Care of chaplaincy”.
这是D. Min.的第四门课，我已经要歪楼了。本来选择了圣经解释方向（Bible Exposition）, 但是目前为止所学的四门课中，只有一门是与讲道有关的。其他的三门课，一门“灵性塑造”是必修课，一门“宣教士照顾（member care）”是教牧咨询的课程，这一门“自我照顾 (self care)”是军队牧师的课程。
好吧，既来之则安之。感觉神的带领有些出乎意料。我现在越来越关心宣教士和牧者的健康问题，他们的家庭、生活质量、子女教育、退休和重新融入生活的问题。
希望有专业人士一起来讨论，如何关心我们下一代的牧者和宣教士。
牧师消耗殆尽的统计数据 （Pastor Burnout Statistics ）
You can easily find pastor burnout statistics all over the internet. Some are very overwhelming – like saying that 48% of pastors marriages end in divorce. I for one have my doubts about that one. As do I about quite a few numbers.
在互联网上，你可以很容易找到牧师消耗殆尽的统计数据。有些数据非常吓人——比如48%的牧师最终会离婚。我对此持有怀疑。对其他一些数据，我也不相信。
I wish they were all true – because then my job of convincing people that pastoral burnout is ravaging pastors would be easy. I tried to find the truth behind the pastor burnout statistics. I tried to find the original studies that produced the numbers. But in most cases I couldn’t find the source.
我希望这些数据都是真的——因为那样我说服别人相信牧师会消耗殆尽的工作就会容易一些。我想要寻找这种消耗背后的真正原因。我想要找到原始的调查数据。但是大多数时候我无法找到数据的来源。
It is also important to note that some statistics offer insight but are probably not statistically significant. They may have been gathered at a pastor’s conference or through information gleaned from pastors who contacted a ministry for information or help. While helpful, numbers gathered in ways such as these cannot be relied on to form accurate conclusions concerning the emotional and psychological status of pastors.
请注意，有些数据对我们颇有启发，但是在统计意义上并不显著。他们是在某个牧师的会议上随意收集，或者从那些向专业机构寻求帮助的牧师中间采集到的。尽管有所帮助，但是这种数据采集方式并不能得到关于牧师的情绪和心理状态的精确结论。
However, there are a some pastor burnout statistics that are reputable… and they are very troubling. Many of the numbers below come from H. B. London’s book, Pastors at Greater Risk.
然而，有些关于牧师消耗的统计颇为可靠……也引人焦虑。下面许多数据出自H. B. London的书，“风险巨大的牧师们”。
According to the New York Times (August 1, 2010) “Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.”
根据纽约时报（2010年8月1日）的报道，“教牧人员受到肥胖、高血压和抑郁症困扰的比例高于大多数美国人。过去10年中，他们使用抗抑郁药物的比例在上升，而预期寿命在下降。如果可以换工作，许多人都想要转业。”
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- 13% 现职牧师离婚（of active pastors are divorced）.
- 23% 职业生涯中被至少解雇或被迫辞职一次（have been fired or pressured to resign at least once in their careers.）
- 25% 面临家庭问题或人际冲突时，不知道找谁帮助（don’t know where to turn when they have a family or personal conflict or issue.）
- 25% 牧师妻子认为丈夫的工作日程安排是主要的冲突来源（of pastors’ wives see their husband’s work schedule as a source of conflict.）
- 33% 服侍的前5年就体会到了消耗殆尽的感觉（felt burned out within their first five years of ministry.）
- 33% 说自己在教会服侍，对家庭是一个彻底的伤害（say that being in ministry is an outright hazard to their family.）
- 40% 牧师和47%的配偶，饱受消耗殆尽、疯狂的日程安排和/或不现实的期待之苦。(40%of pastors and 47% of spouses are suffering from burnout, frantic schedules, and/or unrealistic expectations.)
- 45% 牧师妻子说，对于他们自己和他们的家庭而言，最大的危险是身体、情绪、精神和灵性的消耗殆尽。（of pastors’ wives say the greatest danger to them and their family is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual burnout.）
- 13% 现职牧师离婚（of active pastors are divorced）.
- （ 现在女牧师也越来越多。）
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- 45% 牧师说，他们曾因为消耗殆尽或抑郁而不得不离开服侍岗位（of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.）
- 50% 觉得自己无法满足工作岗位的要求（feel unable to meet the needs of the job.）
- 52% 牧师说他们和自己的配偶相信，做牧师对他们的家庭和健康有害（of pastors say they and their spouses believe that being in pastoral ministry is hazardous to their family’s well-being and health.）
- 56% 牧师妻子说，他们没有亲密的朋友（of pastors’ wives say that they have no close friends.）
- 57% 会离职–如果他们还有别的去处，或者能做别的工作（would leave the pastorate if they had somewhere else to go or some other vocation they could do.）
- 70% 没有任何亲密朋友（don’t have any close friends.）
- 75% 报告说，因为严重的压力，他们会极度痛苦、焦虑、迷惑、生气、抑郁、恐惧和疏离（report severe stress causing anguish, worry, bewilderment, anger, depression, fear, and alienation.）
- 80% 牧师说，他们没有足够的时间与配偶在一起。（of pastors say they have insufficient time with their spouse.）
- 80% 相信牧职对家庭有负面影响（believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively.）
- 90% 觉得没有资格或者没有充分预备好服侍（feel unqualified or poorly prepared for ministry.）
- 90% 每周工作超过50小时（work more than 50 hours a week.）
- 94% 觉得亏欠家人（feel under pressure to have a perfect family.）
- 每个月有1,500 牧师因为消耗殆尽、冲突或道德问题而离开牧职 （1,500 pastors leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict, or moral failure.)
- 45% 牧师说，他们曾因为消耗殆尽或抑郁而不得不离开服侍岗位（of pastors say that they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed to take a leave of absence from ministry.）
故事的另一面（The Rest of the Story）
The hardest thing about these numbers is that they only tell half the story. The other half is that congregations don’t know or understand the nature of pastoral stress. And when a pastor breaks down or has a moral failure, congregations, for lack of a better word, “kick the pastor to the curb.”
这些冰冷的数字只讲出了故事的一面。故事的另一面是，会众不知道或者不理解牧师的压力从何而来。当牧师崩溃或者出现道德过失时，会众找不到比“把牧师赶出门”更好的说辞。
Whether you are a pastor, a former pastor, or a congregation member, I hope these clergy burnout statistics help clarify the problem. And more importantly, I hope they help you focus your ministry to pastors.
不管你是牧师、曾经的牧师还是会众的一员，我希望这些教牧人员崩溃的统计数字帮助澄清一些问题。更重要的是，我希望它们可以帮助你更注重服侍你们的牧师。