So how common is burn-out and what do we mean by the term? How far can those in youth ministry go before their passion for young people is drained by the relentlessness of it all? What are some of the causes of burn out and what can be done both to prevent and respond to burnout?

Are you burnt-out?

Symptoms of burn out can include panic attacks, depression, headaches, sleeplessness, a racing mind, an inability to relax, indigestion, irritability, poor memory and weight loss. Though serious, these symptoms don’t always precipitate a slow down. Failure to heed these warning signs can however lead to high blood pressure, chronic constipation, peptic ulcers and ultimately heart disease.

Burn out is a reality for many youthworkers. Others dwell somewhere in the exhaustion zone, living with anxiety but managing to avoid the burn out region. Mary, Youth and Children’s worker at a church in North England has noticed that although many youthworkers are not suffering obvious outward symptoms of burn out, most ‘are somewhere on the scale of overwork.’ Another female youthworker, Sam, reported ‘feeling unsupported and undervalued’ in her role as a church youthworker. ‘However’, she says, ‘it took me a while to recognise the effect this was having on me as a person, let alone my work.’

Patricia, a volunteer youth leader, confesses to feeling burnt-out ‘once every couple of months’ and of struggling to switch off in the face of ‘heartbreaking situations we youth leaders find ourselves becoming part of’. Pete has gone slightly further down that road and is currently off work with ‘excruciating chest pains which the doctors have diagnosed as stress.’ He worked 75 hours in his last full week, with Sunday school and youth meetings on Sunday ‘classed as my personal time as this is on the Sabbath.’

Common causes of burnout

‘Everybody loves a bargain’, says Said, ‘and no one is seen as more of a bargain than a youth worker who is prepared to tolerate exploitation’.

When Sam (quoted above) approached her church leaders looking for a greater level of support they told her she was, ‘obviously suffering from depression and that it was nothing to do with their management of my work.’ Many churches do expect the earth from their youthworkers, viewing the paid – or volunteered – hours as ministry and therefore expecting a 24/7 commitment. Jenny Baker, a regular contributor to YWI, comments, ‘giving people space and opportunities to serve God is one thing – taking advantage of someone’s sense of calling and vision by overloading them, paying them badly, or not paying them, and not being concerned for their growth and well-being, seems like spiritual abuse to me.’

Youthworkers, as well as churches, need to be pro-active.

Taking responsibility

Ed Campbell, a Spiritual Development Program Consultant based in the US, argues that ‘burn out is caused when we take on the responsibility for the choices of our young people. We want to mould them and make them Christians, and we feel responsible when they do not live up to those expectations. With the issue of administration there is the same problem,’ he adds. ‘One simply does not hand much of the leadership work over to others. A good leader teaches, coaches and guides. If you are not doing this, then you may be trying to be a youth superworker and trying to take too much responsibility for the way the group functions.’

On this same theme Peter Hall adds, ‘another problem is that many youthworkers think they are indispensable in the lives of the young people. Our young people should be able to depend upon us, but not be dependant upon us’, he says.

Volunteered time

So how do issues of burn out affect volunteer youthworkers? A discussion on the Youthwork web forum centred around an ansafone message which a full time salaried youthworker recorded telling callers that Tuesday was her day off. Her efforts to protect her private time upset a church member who felt she was ‘getting pious about time off, when she does all her church work in her spare time.’

Other volunteer youth workers in the forum argued that volunteers do get offended when they see salaried youth workers ‘sounding as though it is a huge sacrifice and great inconvenience for them to give up a Saturday, as if its not for the rest of the team who also work 40 hours a week and are then expected to do evening meetings with the team, small group Bible studies with the kids, mid-week groups, Saturday events and Sunday morning Bible studies.’

One volunteer youthworker wrote, ‘yes it’s a choice and a calling to do youthwork, but sometimes the expectations on volunteers can be another 20 hours a week.’ One volunteer, John, gave 15 hours a week to youth ministry on top of 40 hours to his job, plus commuting. After six months, ‘things got ridiculous’, he says. ‘For me there is a best practice out there, and we ought to be able to find the boundaries somehow, and remain within them.’ Highlighting the different dynamic that sometimes exists for volunteer workers. He adds, ‘I enjoy youthwork as a break from the norm. Its not quite the same for the friends of mine who do the job all day, and then join me in the evenings.’

Environmental factors

Other factors affecting the propensity to burn out include where youthworkers live and whether they are married. A recent report from The Arthur Rank Centre, a grant making body focusing on youth ministry in rural areas, noted that, ‘one must not forget the lack of social opportunities within these rural communities. For a youthworker whose hours may be very unsocial, there is little time or chance to meet others.’ It went to on highlight the ‘profound differences between youth work in the country and in the town’ and the ‘sociological aspects of rural life, and their affect on the personal development of young people’. Clearly this aspect of rural life could be extended to include youth workers themselves.

Another factor is marital status. Sarah, a full time salaried church based youth worker, believes that ‘youthworkers who are single are more likely to work more hours. One colleague of mine once said that now that she was married she had a reason to go home. I am single’, says Sarah, ‘and coming home is a restful prospect, but also a lonely one. Without anyone else being around I can sneak onto the computer and finish off some preparation or e-mail some young people.’

Solutions

1. Systems

For salaried youth workers, dividing the week into 21 sessions, three per day – morning, afternoon and evening – and marking seven of those off in a diary as time off (three of which are the day off), may help to ensure time is regularly set aside. Turning the phone, and e-mail, off during days off may help to set this time apart – or getting a phone that shows callers numbers.

2. Retreats

For those burnt out, retreats can be one helpful ingredient in the recovery medicine, offering a chance to relax, wind down, centre on God and get out of a stress filled environment. Having been burned out several times, Mark, a youthworker based in Southern England says, ‘each time it hits I ended up taking a retreat. One was for a week to Iona which really helped.’

For Brian, the experience was less relaxing. Having become increasingly stressed, Brian's church ‘suggested I take a retreat,’ he says. ‘They found a top one with training on deliverance ministry and thought I should go and bring the training back to the church!’ Currently signed off with stress, Brian says, ‘in my opinion I would prefer somewhere quiet and picturesque where I can chill out in the country air and be myself.’

Arguing for the value of retreat time in his book Feeding Your Forgotten Soul, (Youth Specialities, 1991), youth specialist Paul Borthwick writes, ‘most agree with the concept, but a few of us bemoan our economic hardship or the demands on our time. Getting away seems impossible. On the other end of the spectrum are the youth leaders who oppose the getting-away principle as being unspiritual and unnecessary.’ He goes on to advocate ‘the biblical principle of Sabbath’ which offers ‘time away from our ministries and normal routines to engage in reflection that allows us to be spiritually refreshed to continue.’

Colin Bennett heads up the Youth and Community work course at Moorlands College Dorset. Having run several retreats he cites the key elements as prayer, worship, Bible study and space. Bennett observes, ‘it is interesting that Elijah looked like he had an emotional breakdown in 1 Kings 19 and God just allowed him to eat and sleep which looked like good medicine.’

3. Sabbath

For many youthworkers Sunday is anything but restful. For others, time alone – Sabbath rest – is a daunting prospect while some would see the cost of resting on the Sabbath as too great in terms of missed ministry opportunities.

Marius Booysen who works for Youth for Christ in South Africa, argues that, ‘The Sabbath is so vital that God mentions it in his 10 commandments. Jesus lived by those commandments. He withdrew from people often to be by himself. Yes, he went to pray, but I reckon sometimes he just needed to grab a snooze under an olive tree. We could argue that Jesus could have healed 22.5 more people and taught his disciples other important stuff like “how to avoid burn out in ministry”, but he valued time off and away.’

Getting the provision of a day off a week may be something that needs to be insisted upon and written into contracts.

4. Self-Awareness

Volunteer youthworker Simon comments, ‘we need to learn to be pastured and be available for that pasturing at different levels.’ Though churches may not always provide this support, Simon highlights that peer support groups, family and other local leaders may serve as alternative avenues for support.

Terry, a youthworker in the South-West of England, has a support group made up of four people. Meeting monthly, the group provides a context for discussing how things are and any needs he has. ‘It is a way of me being accountable for my time,’ he says, ‘and also passing things over to a group that I cannot necessarily deal with on my own. It is important to have a group who are regularly behind you supporting you in prayer and friendship.’

It is also crucial that youthworkers are aware of their own limitations and stick to them by being willing and able to say ‘no’. 

5. Expectations 

When dealing with a churches expectations, spiritual development consultant Ed Campbell believes that it is vital to understand and accept that ‘we cannot change the church. They have to learn. You are not going to teach them.’ Campbell argues that ‘it is so easy to blame the church, but the church has had the problem of holding unrealistic expectations for its employees and volunteers for years.’

He suggests that rather than changing the church or employer, youthworkers need to look at themselves and ‘begin to figure out the roots of your need to do so much beyond your scope or ability. Why do you have a problem standing up to your church and enforcing your priorities?’ he asks.

While re-addressing an unrealistic job description with your church may help to create workable expectations, this may not always be possible. Michael, a youthworker based in North London, suggests another option. ‘One of the useful pieces of advice I ever heard’, he says, ‘was “you must lower your expectations and seek to achieve less”. If one is too busy, too stressed, then one must sit down and get rid of some expectations and their accompanying time commitments.’

Communication is the key

Communication is essential. Whether with your boss, peers, family, partner, friends, yourself or God, shutting off, or blocking the reality of stress is a recipe for burn out. Marius Booysen calls youthworkers to, ‘be ready to embark on a journey with your church, almost educating them about the kind of support structure you require. It is a process,’ she says, ‘and remember, many of the older generations have worked their fingers to the bone at the expense of family and other things, so they may struggle to understand why you need a day off!’

Ultimately there is no simple answer. However, stressful periods are part of a learning journey and, as youth worker Susie Mapledoram adds, ‘it has to be a day-to-day question and answer session with yourself about what you are doing.’

This is an archive article from the UK's Youthwork magazine. At the time of writing, Steve Adams was an Assistant Editor.

NOTE: Most of the names of youth workers in this article have been changed for purposes of privacy.