The Crabby Pastor

Send a text I have trouble slowing down. And, I have trouble identifying that I'm going too fast and need to slow down.  How about you? Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with your input and ideas for burnout...

Send a text I sat down with Rev. Steve Barkey while he was still fresh from the sabbatical trail. He has a lot to offer on this topic and shares the whys/hows of taking a sabbatical.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmai...

Send a text Rev. Patrick Robbins shares his ‘Back from Burnout’ journey.  He found out that even after more than 20 years of ministry, a pastor can find themselves in burnout. He also learned some valuable lessons for today.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. C...

Send a text Spoiler alert: this episode is based on the movie The King's Speech.  Great story of humility in action and reaching out for the kind of help you need.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with you...

Send a text More and more I am hearing about how ministry leaders feel unprepared for dealing with those dastardly finance reports. Here's a quick overview of some of that.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com...

Send a text I'm chatting, well, with an occasional rant... about Pastor Appreciation MONTH. That's in caps not because I'm yelling but because of the weight of 30 whole days!  I'd love your response! Tell me the best and worst of Pastor Appreciation Month: margie@margiebryce.com  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and...

Send a text Part 2 of my interview with Rev. Valerie White where she continues her story about her journey toward wholeness.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with your input and ideas for burnout and leadership...

Send a text This is Part One of a two-part interview where Rev. Valerie White shares her journey dealing with the challenges of ministry and the need for compassion and support for ministry leaders. We'll finish Part Two as Valerie shares about 'mild' depression.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for yo...

Send a text This past spring and summer I headed out to Conferences and set up my table. Reactions to my Crabby Pastor signs were indeed interesting. Hear now what I learned from being on the road meeting up with ministry leaders.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in minis...

Send a text A lesson about burnout! And.. about coming back from burnout.  Sometimes we are burned out and don't even know it until we end up somewhere we never intended.  Give a listen to my interview with Rev. Tony Miltenberger who courageously shares his burnout story... and what brought him back from burnout.   Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge...

Send a text I sat down with Rev. Beth Caulfield, author of People Throw Rocks at Things that Shine: A Clergy Whistleblower's Journey. We chatted about what ministry leaders can do when they are struggling. Lots of great self-care advice here.  HERE is a link to purchase her book .  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importanc...

Send a text I have great friends who ask me to do some unusual things. I'm never sure whether I should be flattered that they think I'm brave enough to try new stuff out or whether they are looking for a fresh victim. Either way, taking time for some nonsense... (no sense) is a great idea.  And, God can use even nonsense to make a point.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So he...

Send a text Leadership can be isolating... and a lonely road.  Who is your lifeline person? Who could you call at 3 a.m. if trouble arose?  One step out of isolation and loneliness is to Phone-A-Friend. Here's the challenge. Are you up for it?  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those...

Send a text Kathy was my spiritual director for about eight years. This means she endured A LOT because she dealt with ME.  Kathy passed away from Alzheimer's in January 2022. Her illness took her away too early from many who benefitted from her wisdom and wit. Here I'm sharing some of Kathy's best pieces of wisdom as a tribute to her.  Her influence on the ministry I am called to i...

Send a text How easy is it for you to admit you're not "all THAT AND a bag of chips?"  Are you fearful when you think you might not have all the answers?   Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with yo...

Send a text Listen up, now. This is for all y'all, dudes and ladies. It's important for all y'all to know how women use power and even how we undermine ourselves in the process. I was curious about how women's voices are heard in the culture and I read Dr. Deborah Birx's book with an eye AWAY FROM POLITICS  and toward the level of self-awareness that Dr. Birx understood an...

Send a text Join me as I interview Alicia Michelle on the importance of the right mindset for ministry leaders... especially when we feel like we're really NOT ENOUGH.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with...

Send a text Rev. Dr. Dan Boone and I chatted a bit about the challenges faced by today’s ministry leader.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with your input and ideas for burnout and leadership topics of interest...

Send a text Rev. Dr. Dan Boone joins me to talk about preaching. He now serves as President of Trevecca Nazarene University but before that he taught at Nazarene Theological Seminary and I was really inspired by his preaching class. His approach helped me to bring the text to life in today's world to help people hear what they need to hear as opposed to just getting our message said.   Here i...

Send a text Not sure where you stand in the Land of the Burned out? Learn more here.  This is the actual test that revealed the level of burnout I was operating under.  Get a copy of the Burnout Quiz HERE. Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email m...

Send a text Digging a bit more into "serving" and what it means to serve God's purposes.  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crabbypastor@gmail.com with your input and ideas for burnout and leadership topics of interest o...

Send a text What does it mean to be a servant of Jesus? A leader with a hefty dose of kenosis, for sure! These are lessons from Paul and the Church at Philippi. If you can imagine, there were issues that sought to divide the congregation. Even. Back. Then. So, what do we do with this NOW?  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its import...

Send a text The franchise dance is a term I coined for my dissertation on how well ministry leaders understand kenosis.  Listen... and ask yourself... in what ways am I doing the franchise dance?  Support the show This is a GUILT-FREE zone! So here's your friendly nudge about self-care and its importance for your family, friends, and those you serve in ministry. Contact info: Email me at crab...

Send a text This podcast is about self-care for ministry leaders and one spiritual aspect of this is… being the kind of leader God needs… so this is a spiritual type of leadership.  KENOTIC leadership is a leadership connected to the Greek word kenosis as used in Philippians 2. I'll explain some of what that LOOKS like in this podcast and a few podcasts that follow this one.  Here's what...

Send a text There is nothing new under the sun. And that goes for leadership issues as well. Here I'm going to talk about two notorious recent-day leadership debacles in the light of a humble historic figure: John Chrysostom. And hey... if you have a burnout story or leadership topic you are just dying to have me unpack... go HERE . I'm getting some great stories already and maybe yours...