Pastors and depression

Pastors are ordinary people. They are not superhuman.

In a quick, recent, online survey of 22 pastors run from Pastors’ Academy, only four said they had never suffered from any kind of depression. Seventeen said they had felt depressed in the last year – I’m sure lockdown had a part to play in that. Six said that they were seeing a doctor and taking medication.

This accords with the findings of the mental-health charity MIND. They say that in England one in four people experience some kind of mental-health problem each year. The most frequent type has to do with depression and anxiety. The symptoms include persistent sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, disturbed sleep, decreased appetite, constant fatigue, poor concentration and indecisiveness, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts. Any five of these eight adds up to mild depression.

Scripture, of course, is well aware of the fight with darkness and depression in which many of God’s servants have to engage. It is on a spectrum all the way from ‘losing heart’ (2 Cor. 4:1,16) right through to Elijah seriously wishing he could die (1 Kings 19:4). That’s how hard even a successful ministry can be. Most pastors have a struggle. Churches need to understand and encourage men in ministry. But what happens when men retire from Christian leadership? The answer is that things can go either way.

Some men will feel relieved that their burden has been lifted. They can look back with a measure of contentment and feel that they have finished the job the Lord gave them to do.

But for others it is not like that. Having had an uphill task all through their ministry, stepping down may cause them to fall into greater depths of darkness. One pastor spoke of feeling suddenly dropped by his congregation. He and his gifts were no longer required. People he loved stepped back from him. Had he wasted his life? Another said that, whereas before, national church leaders related to him, suddenly he was out in the cold. Further, some retired pastors find that there is pressure put on them to leave the church and move away from the area where all their friends are located. They are expected to go into isolation. The idea is that everything must be done to give ‘the new man’ a clear run. This can add hugely to the previous pastor’s sense of loss and worthlessness. It makes their darkness much deeper.

We speak endlessly of the need for love in the church. Indeed, without love, the church is a spiritual nonentity (1 Cor. 13:1-3). But do churches give any thought about caring for those who have served them, trying to feed the flock for all those years?

Mental health has come to national prominence over the last year or so with footballers, celebrities and even Prince William sharing their experiences.

And pastors have begun to tell their stories too. In May a new book is published – Pastor With a Thorn in His Side . Edited by Stephen Kneale, the book allows seven pastors to open up on what it has been like for them to wrestle with depression while at the same time caring for the church and keeping going in gospel ministry. Not all Christian heroes are in the past – some of them walk among us today.