Earlier today the Barrancas National Cemetery at NAS Pensacola was extremely busy. When I visited this morning, one interment service was being completed as another procession awaited their turn, and yet another was turning in the gate. Thanks to the local Boy Scouts of America, a sea of small American flags dotted the landscape, one posted by each headstone, a reminder that it is Memorial Day weekend, a time for grateful remembrance.

Memorial Day invokes more of a sense of observance than of celebration. The last Monday in May does not usually generate as much holiday enthusiasm as Christmas, Easter, or Independence Day. However, we should be careful that the meaning of this holiday does not become lost in the busyness of our activities.

Memorial Day is not just another “day off” but a day to remember those who have lost their lives in the military service of our country. This is a day to remember those who, according to Henry Ward Beecher, “hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.”

In a culture that is increasingly attention-deficient, remembering is a painful but necessary discipline. Revisiting stories from the battlefield may keep us consciously aware of the harsh realities of war. Exploring the historical narrative may enable us to learn from both the successes and the failures of our ancestors. When we remember the fallen we keep alive the individual and corporate legacies of valor and courage that inspire and challenge us to be responsible citizens of the free world.

To fail to remember is to develop a convenient amnesia that eventually robs succeeding generations of acquaintance with our national heritage. To fail to remember creates a contagious apathy that leads to a neglect of both our freedom and our citizenship.   To fail to remember can produce a false sense of security and an inaccurate perception that we are exempt from future warfare. If for no other reason, we should remember in order to guard against what George Washington called “the impostures of pretended patriotism.”

Perhaps our high tech world is at times too much of a fantasy world.  Reflecting on the sacrifices of previous generations may trigger in us a reality check and a gut check.  This kind of remembering is a painful but necessary discipline, a practice that forges vision from memory and distills wisdom from knowledge.

In The Roadmender Margaret Fairless Barber suggests that “To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward.”

This year, as you observe Memorial Day, take time to remember the men and women who served with distinction and made extraordinary sacrifices to establish and preserve our freedom. By remembering our heritage, may we be better equipped and motivated to engage the future with courage and hope.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at First Baptist Church of Pensacola.)

 

by Barry Howard

Self-care includes developing and maintaining good physical, spiritual and mental health, a uniquely challenging but crucial discipline for a pastor. While these three areas of wellness are intertwined and inseparable, in my own life and the experience of many of my colleagues, I recognize that more attention has been given to physical and spiritual health, and mental health is often neglected, causing a diminishment to all three.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Every human being experiences highs and lows in mental health. Although some forms of mental illness are genetic, other expressions of mental illness may be related to circumstances or body chemistry, and may be preemptively avoided or proactively addressed by practicing good mental hygiene.

A common, but naïve misconception is that pastors, or persons with strong religious faith, are exempt from mental distress. The Apostle Paul is noted for his courageous ministry but he confessed, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (II Corinthians 11:28 NIV).

In his book, Surviving the Stained-Glass Jungle, veteran pastor Dr. Bill Self contends that, “Self-care is not destructive self-indulgence, but rather it is being a steward of some rather special gifts— the human body and soul, along with the capacity to bring joy to others as well as to experience it.”

Those in every vocation experience varying levels of stress, distress, and duress. However, because the pastoral task requires remarkable investment in the lives of others, a pastor who neglects mental hygiene can gradually slip into a state of melancholy or emotional chaos, and then compound the dilemma by ignoring the symptoms for fear of stigmatizing his or her ministry.

As a pastor I can identify at least five areas that commonly place stress on a pastor’s mental and emotional health:

• Unrealistic expectations- These expectations can be real or perceived, and they can be generated by vocal congregants or be self-imposed by a minister with a “messiah complex.” Most congregations have ambivalent expectations that fluctuate between market-driven goals (e.g., attendance, budgets, awards) and mission-driven goals (e.g., participation, stewardship, life transformation). The wider the gap between these two categories, the more intense the stress on the minister.
• Perpetual preparation– The task of perpetual preparation can be a mentally exhausting chore. Many professional public speakers have 4-5 niche speeches that they give over and over to different groups. Professors and teachers have lectures and lesson plans that are updated and revised from semester to semester but they usually follow a core curriculum. A preaching pastor is unique in that he or she is generally expected to prepare and deliver 40-50 different Sunday sermons per year to virtually the same group of people, in addition to devotionals, Bible studies, and speeches for community events.
• Diverse emotional encounters- A minister deals with grief, grace, and everything in between on a daily basis. Perhaps more than any other vocation, a pastor regularly moves in and out of situations with polarizing and intense emotions such as death and birth, divorce and marriage, perversion and conversion, and conflict and resolution. If a pastor is not careful, the residual emotions from these encounters will linger and intermingle creating either emotional apathy or spiritual neuropathy.
• Problem people- Not to be confused with people with problems, problem people are unusually high maintenance individuals who consume an exorbitant amount of a pastor’s time with an unnecessary complaint or unconstructive criticism. Marshall Shelley refers to these “well-intentioned dragons” as “sincere, well-meaning saints, but they leave ulcers, strained relationships, and hard feelings in their wake.”
• Confidentiality cache- Because the pastoral role is not only prophetic but also priestly, a pastor is entrusted with a lot of confidential information that is locked away into a pastor’s mental storage. The volume of this information can become a heavy emotional weight if it remains in a pastor’s mental inbox and is not appropriately archived.

In light of these and other areas of pastoral stress, to preserve good health and promote longevity in ministry, how can a pastor practice good mental and emotional hygiene?

Each pastor has to identify and adopt hygienic habits that fit his or her context and personality. Here are some practices I am finding to be helpful in my own pastoral routine:

• Establish and maintain a consistent prayer and devotional life.
• Maintain a friendship with a trustworthy conversation partner, perhaps even another pastor, outside of your church.
• Convene a small accountability group, establish a confidentiality covenant with them, and meet with them monthly.
• Read regularly in multiple genres including biography, history, and fiction.
• Pay attention to diet, especially limiting intake of sugar, caffeine, and other foods that can trigger emotional swings.
• Develop a regimen of moderate physical exercise.
• Follow a consistent routine for sleep and rest.
• Periodically disconnect from the work of the church, especially from mental labor (problem solving, conflict management), cellphone calls, and social media.
• Have an annual physical examination, as well as eye examination and dermatology screening.
• Participate in a peer network of pastors who convene with a covenant of confidentiality, and who vent and vision together.

Be alert to seasons when your mental distress leads to dysfunction, manifested by ongoing and overwhelming symptoms of depression, chronic anxiety, paranoia, and/or insomnia. Immediately enlist the care of a medical professional. To procrastinate getting care prolongs the process of recovery.

Life in the stained-glass jungle has unique rewards and challenges. Self-care is absolutely essential. Bill Self reminds us that, “It takes courage to take care of yourself. One of the hallmarks of a professional is the ability to keep healthy— physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You must take responsibility for yourself and not expect others to take the initiative to care for you.”

Practicing good self-care can empower a pastor to be mentally sharp, emotionally balanced, and spiritually perceptive in all seasons.

(Barry Howard serves as the Senior Minister at the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

Earlier this week the Pensacola area experienced extensive damage from flash flooding caused by record rainfall. Although our FBC Pensacola campus only experienced minor damage, many in our church family and community experienced extensive catastrophic damage.

Additionally, the explosion at the Escambia County Jail has placed additional responsibility on our local leaders, law enforcement officials, and first responders.

I am extremely grateful for the volunteers who jumped into action assisting with cleanup on our campus and around the community. Many have asked, “What can I do to help?”

The damage is severe in several locations.  I have personally surveyed the damage in the communities near Cordova Park, East Hill, Car City, and West Pensacola. I have not yet seen the damage in Gulf Breeze and Cantonment.

After conversations with community leaders and area pastors, we all recognize that the damage to homes is widespread, that most do not have flood insurance, and that our community is looking at several months of cleanup and repair work.

With all of us working together we can help each other through this disaster. As we assist with repair and rebuilding work, here are some ways you can help:

• Pray! Pray for all of the families who experienced damage or lost property.
• Give! Make a financial contribution to the Relief Work by sending your gift to FBCP Disaster Relief Fund (500 North Palafox, Pensacola, 32501). All funds will be used locally to aid those in the Pensacola area.
• Volunteer! Currently you may volunteer at Operation Blessing based on the campus of Brownsville Assembly or Influence Pensacola (in partnership with Florida Baptist Disaster Relief) at the Bristol Creek site. (Influence Pensacola is currently working to establish work sites in Gulf Breeze also.)
• Bring books! In addition to conducting worship services at the County Jail, one of the ministries of our church is to operate the book cart providing wholesome reading material for inmates at the jail. In light of the explosion and relocation of inmates, more books are needed. Please bring paperback books that are General Interest or Fiction. You may place them in the box in front of the library.

Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. With only a few exceptions, the Deluge of 2014 is bringing out the best in folks in Pensacola.  This crisis is affording us a great opportunity to share the love of God in word and in deed.