A few years ago I wrote a book called The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Pressures of Ministry. In the book I discussed several pressures that ministers face and how to deal with them in a healthy manner. Having served as a pastor for 14 years I knew most of them by experience, and I had seem some of them take friends of mine out of the ministry. However, there is nothing in the book that discusses the pressures pastors are feeling today due to the coronavirus.
How does a pastor minister to his or her congregation when they cannot even gather for worship on Sunday morning, when patients in hospitals or under quarantine at home are not allowed visitors, when funerals are limited to 10 people, when spouses are diagnosed with the virus and cannot be with their spouse who is dying of the disease and not even able to attend the funeral, when people are frightened and confused with all the contradictory information being given out, and when people who live alone have no one to spend their days with? Pastors are asking these questions on social media trying to find out what other pastors are doing. Many of them feel hopeless in trying to provide any pastoral care at this time.
Last week I called a pastor friend of mine just to ask how he was doing. When he asked if I wanted anything I explained I just wanted to check on him to be sure he was doing OK. He seemed quite appreciative to have someone who understood some of the pressures he was feeling check on him.
There has been a lot of discussion about the pressures first responders and medical personnel are dealing with during this pandemic. They are truly heroes. But so are the pastors, the funeral directors, the nursing home workers and others who are working to bring comfort and hope to people. I read about a funeral director who stopped at a house for a few moments to allow a wife to view the casket of her husband. Both had been diagnosed with coronavirus. He had been admitted to the hospital; she had been sent home. He passed away, and his wife of several decades could not be with him as he died nor attend the funeral. The funeral director stopped to let her see the casket before going to the cemetery. In his role he had seen a lot of pain, but nothing prepared him for the agony of this experience.
I saw on the news a nursing home for Alzheimer's patients that had been struck by the recent tornadoes down south. Before the tornado hit, the patients, who had been put to bed for the night, had to be moved to a nearby hotel. Imagine their confusion being awakened in the middle of the night and moved to a new facility they had never seen. I've tried to imagine the workers trying to remain calm and yet faced with a very difficult task knowing a tornado was bearing down on them. The building suffered a great deal of damage from the tornado, and without the quick action of the workers there some patients may have lost their lives. All this on top of working closely with co-workers and patients in the midst of a pandemic.
We see who the real heroes in the world are today, and they're not the overpaid athletes who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem. They are not the Hollywood elite who thinks the world revolves around their opinions. They are not the media moguls who decide everyday what news the people are entitled to hear and the spin they will put on that news.
No...the heroes are those who are face-to-face everyday with the hurting, the scared, the sick and the dying. Underpaid, understaffed, under-resourced and, too often, unappreciated, they are the ones making a difference in people's lives. They are saving lives and giving hope and comfort to those who need it most.
Our pastors and chaplains are among that group of heroes. Please be in prayer for your pastor and all pastors across the nation as they seek to fulfill God's calling on their lives during this difficult time. Call them from time to time just to check to see how they are doing. When this is over it might be good to give them some extra vacation time to clear their minds and refresh their spirits.
As we pray for our pastors, let's pray for all those on the front lines battling this disease. They are paying a price, and they deserve our support, our prayers and our appreciation.
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