Spiritually devoted, physically drained?

“I knew I was exhausted, but I couldn’t see how to stop without letting everyone down.”

That comment from one pastor captures something common about Christian leadership.

Church and ministry leaders are deeply committed to their calling. They love God and the people they serve, but some are serving from bodies and minds that have been carrying too much for too long.

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Research reflects the reality; the Church of England’s decade-long Living Ministry research found that 29% of clergy recorded mental wellbeing scores indicating possible, mild or clinical depression, rising to 35% among incumbents.

Through The Living Well, which supports those serving in Christian leadership, I’ve heard leaders speak honestly about the pressures they carry. The question that inspired me to build The Living Well continues to circle in my mind: who carries the people who carry everyone else?

Because ministry doesn’t happen in isolation. Leaders still have the same life pressures as the rest of us. 

I recently heard about a ministry worker who came frighteningly close to physical collapse while praying for lots of people at a Christian conference. 

Afterwards, felt convicted that if he was going to sustain the work he was called to do, his physical health could no longer be an afterthought. He changed how he ate, became fitter and stronger, and began caring for his body differently.

Even though it took time, caring for his health didn’t make him less committed to ministry. It helped make him physically more able to sustain it.

Perhaps we can put more emphasis on what happens when wellbeing is approached preventatively, not just addressed when someone is reaching burnout.

In the church I attend, leaders speak openly about the need to recover after demanding periods of ministry. One young pastor is intentional about protecting time away from ministry to be with his family. He turns his phone off. He exercises, eats well, spends time outdoors and regularly goes to the coast, somewhere he knows restores him.

These individual practices aren’t exactly revolutionary. What matters is the culture underneath them: he is encouraged by the church to step away. Because caring for the person isn’t seen as competing with the ministry. It helps make that ministry sustainable.

Individually, there is humility in accepting our limitations. We are created, embodied people. We need food, sleep, relationships, quiet and rest. Recognising that isn’t a lack of faith; it is an acknowledgement that we are human and God is God.

Our need for rest is written into scripture from the beginning. Yet Sabbath can sometimes be something we admire theologically while almost ignoring it practically.

Jesus said, ​“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) 

Sabbath wasn’t God’s response to human weakness. It was His provision for human limitation. Perhaps it is also an act of trust. Stopping reminds us that God is still God when we’re not working. In an age of constant availability and distraction, rest creates something increasingly rare: space to be with Him. We cannot continually pour out spiritually without refilling from the quiet presence of the One we are serving.

Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19 is a wonderful example of human limitation and God’s beautiful acknowledgement of this. Depleted, frightened and overwhelmed, Elijah sits beneath a broom tree and tells God he has had enough.

God’s first response isn’t correction or even encouragement. He lets him sleep. Then He provides food and water. Then more rest. Because Elijah’s body cannot carry on.

Only afterwards comes the journey, the conversation and the gentle whisper.

Our bodies aren’t inconvenient containers carrying around our more important spiritual selves, and biblical sacrifice is not the same thing as chronic self-neglect. 

Stress resilience isn’t simply something we either have or don’t. Research suggests that it can be strengthened. Here are four simple ways we can start as individuals:

The brain and nervous system don’t operate in isolation. Regular nourishing meals containing protein, fibre and healthy fats help provide the nutrients and energy our bodies and brains need. 

Protein, particularly, provides the building blocks used to make neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that influence mood, concentration and energy levels. Movement, time outside in daylight and consistent sleep rhythms are also essential foundations for wellbeing. 

Recovery doesn’t only happen on holiday, and switching off isn’t always the same as restoration. 

Walking outside, moving the body regularly and stretching, gentle breath practices (for example, slowing our exhale), sharing a meal without any screens or spending a few quiet minutes closing our eyes in prayer can create opportunities for the body and mind to move away from constant demand. 

Focused attention runs out over time, but regular breaks let the mind reset, which improves productivity. 

A ​‘day off’ filled with emails, notifications and unfinished ministry isn’t restful. There will always be more to do. Sabbath encourages us to stop, makes space for physical recovery, time with loved ones, mental space, and the restoring presence of God. 

The way we approach stress also matters, because our brains don’t respond only to what is happening to us, but also to how we perceive what’s happening and whether we feel equipped to cope with it. 

This doesn’t mean mental reframing can make an unsustainable workload sustainable. However, sometimes we can build our capacity; sometimes the load itself needs to change.

Having support from the wider church is vital, so these solutions don’t become another list of things for an already exhausted leader to do. 

Thankfully, this conversation is now beginning to move beyond individual responsibility. The Church of England’s Covenant for Clergy Care and Wellbeing calls for care to become integral to the life of the church, and recent national investment includes funding for psychological support, pastoral supervision and financial wellbeing, alongside planned guidance on rest periods and working patterns.

It’s an important and welcome shift from asking individual leaders to become better at carrying unsustainable loads, towards recognising that the structures around them have a part to play too.

Protecting leaders’ wellbeing can be a shared responsibility, where leaders feel able to communicate boundaries and recognise their limits. Churches also need to stick to those boundaries, where days off are respected, workloads considered, and responsibility shared.

Through Christ, we are brothers and sisters called to ​“carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

Interestingly, community and social support is also recognised in research as one of the key factors that can help people become more resilient. 

Perhaps science is reminding us of something scripture has been telling us from the beginning: we were never designed to carry everything alone. Pastors are a member of the family too.

Supporting those who lead us isn’t simply an individual or an organisational issue; it is also part of learning how to be the body of Christ.

Which leaves all of us with one question: what kind of family do we want to be?