I just finished an article headlined, “Looming Mass Exodus of School Principals Feared This Summer.” That was right after another column titled: “Houses of Worship Face Clergy Shortage as Many Resign During Pandemic.” And there’s this from a few months ago: “After a Nightmare Year, Election Officials Are Quitting.”
Last year was a record-shattering year as more American leaders than ever before—elected officials, school administrators, clergy, hospital directors, health officials and more––resigned.
Why are so many quitting? The situation is complex. But many are simply tired.
My friends in positions like these tell me they’re exhausted by the Covid-related stresses of the last two years and the heightened political tensions in our country, often expressed in hate mail and angry texts and lawsuits. They feel they just can’t take it anymore. They didn’t make the rules, yet they’re being attacked for them. It’s not what they signed up for. So they’re leaving.
Yet this is the very moment their veteran leadership is so needed. Who will fill the vacuum if they quit? I fear it will be inexperienced, divisive hotheads passionate about their pet issue––on either side of the political spectrum. Fewer and fewer reasonable people are willing to endure the intense opposition (on almost any issue!) that leaders experience today.
So I am issuing a call to action.
If you know anyone in the categories above, any leaders or teachers or nurses or pastors or elected officials, write or text or call them. Today. Encourage them not to quit.
Tell them what they do well. Be specific. Show them how they are making a difference. Let them see that their labor is not in vain.
Fanatics always find time to passionately express their views. Contented people rarely raise their voices. But to avoid a looming leadership catastrophe, you need to raise yours now. Not tomorrow.
You can easily find emails for your county supervisor, your city council, your school principal, or anyone else online. Pick one leader and encourage them before it’s too late.
Years ago I felt dismayed by my lack of effectiveness as a pastor. Change just wasn’t happening fast enough. I was thinking of quitting.
Then I opened my mail and was surprised to see a card from my sister Heidi. We have a great relationship, but she had never before sent me a card outside of special occasions. Curious, I opened the envelope and read:
“Love you, bro! Just felt moved to send you this.” On the next page she had written a single Bible verse:
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
I have thought of that note and that verse countless times since then, in other moments I’ve been tempted to just give up. Your note or call or text may do the exact same thing for someone else. You can be their encouraging angel. But it cannot happen if you do not send it.
And if you are thinking of quitting, don’t! As I wrote last week to a group of pastors after some expressed that they were so tired they wanted to give up.
Don’t quit!
You have just weathered the two most difficult years of your ministry career.
Now is when it starts to get better.
Now is when your years of experience, within your particular community, are going to start paying off in new and exciting ways.
You feel exhausted, as do I. But needing rest is different than needing to quit. Get rest. Then return.
This is the moment all your other moments have been leading to.
This is the darkness before the dawn.
Most importantly, God will minister to your congregation as they see you walking through your own disillusionment to live out your calling.
I am so excited to see what God will do!
I hope my pastoral pep talk helped some of them.
Don’t get me wrong: Rest is important if you’re tired. Sometimes when you feel like quitting, you just need a break. I am looking forward to my sabbatical later this year (every seven years, the pastors at our church get the three summer months off). I’m excited to return with batteries fully charged to keep on plugging.
These words from Scripture are relevant to everyone reading this: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
Keep planting the seeds. Keep tending the soil. The harvest is coming.
There is so much turmoil and sorrow in the world. It can be fatiguing to even listen to the news. But let’s hang in there and support one another so we are right there in the thick of it as we help change the world for the better.
René Schlaepfer is senior pastor of Twin Lakes Church in Aptos, tlc.org. His views are his own and not necessarily those of the Pajaronian.
