Dr. Julius Kim serves at Westminster Seminary in California as a professor in the department of practical theology and as the dean of students. He serves as an associate pastor of New Life Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Escondido, Calif. He has also developed and administered the Center for Pastoral Refreshment (CPR).

This interview was conducted by Pastor Harry Metzger, chairman of the Reformed Presbyterian Church’s Committee on Church Revitalization. One of the committee’s goals is to encourage pastors in their ministry. Dr. Kim will be one of the featured speakers at the committee’s “Renewal for Pastors” Conference being held May 14–15 in Indianapolis.

HM: Please tell us about the Center for Pastoral Refreshment (CPR ). What is your vision for it?

JK: CPR was started eight years ago through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, which had started an initiative called Sustaining Pastoral Excellence. Seminaries, schools and other institutions were asked to submit proposals on how they would sustain pastoral excellence. People at Westminster Seminary were intrigued by the idea, especially because of our history of working with churches and church leaders in the Korean-American context. Various Korean church leaders voiced concerns about the unique pressures that international pastors in the United States face because of their immigrant status. As a result of these pastoral concerns, Westminster established CPR for training, mentoring, supporting, and bringing revitalization to Korean pastors.

Our program is centered on three main goals.

1) We exist to deepen the theological, that is, to expand the intellectual and ministerial skills of the pastors through reading, reflection, and discussion with seminary faculty.

2) We desire to build the collegial. Not only Korean pastors, but many pastors face loneliness and isolation in their ministries, thus undermining their efficiency and effectiveness in their calling. One way to offset that is to provide safe places with peers where they can share burdens and joys, be challenged, and pray together for their lives and ministry.

3) We hope to help them experience the physical. We find that many pastors, in the busyness of life and ministry, fail to take care of their bodies. Their souls might be fed, but their bodies are collapsing. They are not eating in a healthy way or exercising well. As a result, their ministries suffer because the men are not as vital as they can be. We created a program where we help them get on an exercise regimen and learn to eat more healthily. We hope to help them experience their physical well being in a God-honoring way.   HM: I have often said that the number one key to a revitalized church is a revitalized pastor. Through your ministry, how have you seen this to be true?

JK: It is absolutely true. Theologically, the pastors are the ones who represent God; and practically, they are the pace-setters of the ministry. If we take an analogy from life, at home, when the mother is not happy, no one is happy. When pastors do not have joy and vitality in the Lord, it unfortunately seeps out and impacts our congregations. It is simple but true. A vital pastor leads to a vital congregation. Therefore, a revitalized pastor leads to a revitalized congregation.

HM: You have worked with all sizes of churches. Do you find that there are differences in the areas of pastoral renewal depending on the size of the church?

JK: Yes and no. There are some unique challenges that a pastor of a small church may face that pastors of larger churches may not. For example, the area of conflict management and resolution is one place where pastors get zapped of their vitality and energy. Conflict can occur in any size church, but manifests itself differently in larger versus smaller churches. If there is a larger session, there are more people that can disagree with each other or the pastor. The principles and practices of conflict resolution apply to all situations. So, the issues of pastoral refreshment may take slightly different mutations depending on the size of the church.

HM: What are some of the common factors that lead to frustration and/or burnout for the pastors?

JK: Jackson Carroll is a researcher at Duke Divinity School. His book, God’s Potters, details the research he did with five major denominations and with over 1,000 senior or solo pastors. With some of his findings, we have concluded that there are several factors that provide dissatisfaction, disillusionment, or discouragement among pastors. One factor is compensation. They are stressed about home finances. They often feel that they are underpaid. Another area was conflict and criticism. Pastors often receive criticism from laity and even other church leaders. The area of marriage and family was another. Pastors often have struggles managing the different roles that they have. It is hard being husband and father, as well as being a pastor. There is tension from not knowing how to manage these. A final area was the loneliness and isolation that pastors often feel. They have little support from peers. These issues are fairly common and occur in all types of churches.

HM: What can the pastor do to prevent or overcome burnout?

JK: There are several things a pastor can do to stave off burnout. I will try to answer simply, based on the pastor’s life as an individual, his life as a family man, and his life as a leader in the church. These are three basic roles that a pastor lives.

As an individual, the pastor needs to make sure he sets himself on a track of self-development and spiritual formation. He needs to consider his ongoing development as vital. Theologically, he needs to be challenged, inspired, and refreshed. This could come from individual study or from ongoing education. Spiritually, the pastor needs to be developing in the Word and in prayer, not only by himself, but also with others. We recommend that pastors get into what we call “covenant groups.” These are small groups of three or four other pastors. Because there are only pastors in these groups, there is safety where there can be frank sharing and freedom to discuss real problems and temptations.

In the area of being a family man, the pastor must make sure that he is taking steps to protect his marriage and family. This is one area we have found that pastors neglect the most. It is also an area where Satan attacks. The pastor thinks his wife and family will always be there for him, so he does not need to “worry” about them. Finding the necessary support to build and encourage the family is often hard, but necessary. Getting very practical, a pastor should consider regular date nights with his wife, learning to love and enjoy her. We have discovered that many pastors neglect devotions with family. It is thought that this is not needed because, after all, the father is a pastor. As a result, family units are breaking down, causing further stress on the pastor and impacting his ability to minister. Taking care of the marriage and family is a very important area.

The final track is that of leading the church. Pastors should make sure they are going to conferences (like the one being held in May in Indianapolis), utilizing opportunities to gain more knowledge and insight into problems and solutions, developing skills in such areas as leadership, management, and conflict resolution. Pastors must do their best to provide help for the elders and other leaders, so that together they can create a culture where revitalization trickles down from the pastor to the elders to congregation. This is because, of course, it is not just pastors and elders that need revitalization; it is every one of us that needs to be revitalized over and over again.

HM: What can the church do to prevent or overcome pastoral burnout?

JK: First and foremost, the primary responsibility, and privilege, for the church is to pray for her leaders. I do not think we take that seriously enough. One thing that our family has committed to do is to pray for the pastor at least once a week, especially when we know he is preparing his sermon. A pastor finds great encouragement in knowing that the church is praying for him.

In addition, the church must provide for the pastor. We need to ask continually, “Are we providing the financial, physical, and spiritual resources our pastor needs to be a healthy and vital pastor?” This means not only compensation, but also time off for educational renewal and study where he can be refreshed. Are we providing for time to go on family vacations? Because finances are often tight for pastors, it would be great if there were vacation homes that can be made available to the pastor and his family. The church should look for opportunities for the pastor and the elders to go to conferences. Those are the two main things a church can concentrate on— pray and provide.

HM: We could probably add another word that starts with a “P.” You talked about criticism earlier. Could we add “Praise” to Pray and Provide?

JK: That is a great one. Encouraging our pastors verbally is so important. The pastoral ministry is hard. A pastor gets up each week and preaches; he prays; he ministers. Sometimes he does not know if he is having any impact at all. People also need to praise and give thanks to God for their spiritual leaders.

HM: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us?

JK: We are not doing this for pastors—for their benefit alone. We are not doing this to give the pastor some sort of break. We are trying to give them support and encouragement so that, ultimately, Christ would be exalted and that God would receive more glory. The more refreshed our pastors are, the more energized our churches are. Therefore, we are doing all this to build the church that she would be a radiant witness in the world, to be the perfect body of Christ.