Anxiety

I’m not sure why the pastorate produces so much anxiety. I suppose you have the performative aspects of it. After so many years, I still toss and turn until my sheets twist into a jumbled mess the night before a sermon or lecture. My mind preaches all night, figuring out how to say it better. I never seem to get to that point of deep sleep.  

Then there are the 40-year declining stats that people expect the pastor to turn around immediately, even though he or she has only been serving the church for two years.

There is the constant criticism. People complain about literally everything--from the way that you put on your lipstick, to how you run a meeting, to what key the hymn was in, to what your kids wear, to the typos in the bulletin, to whether the paraments were hanging slightly askew. Believe me, I can go on, but you get the idea.