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April 2006 |
Body, Mind & Spirit
A healthy clergy?
By Todd Outcalt
It happens every year when the staff-parish committee reviews the cost of our continually rising health insurance premiums: Eyes widen, gasps go up around the table and inevitably someone asks, "How much did you say?" You've been there, too. You've seen the figures.
There was a time when I used to think that clergy were some of the healthier people in society.
But no longer. The fact is, as a group of United Methodist clergy in Indiana, we are overall a very unhealthy group. Only a small percentage of our pastors go to the free health screenings provided by the South Indiana Conference. Most don't exercise. We work long hours and take few breaks.
I'm guilty, too. There was a time when I would go to the gym every morning and lift weights, do a half-hour on the treadmill, eat right and sleep soundly. But as I've gotten older, I've forfeited many of my earlier healthy disciplines. Already, through the first three months of 2006, I've paid out $2,500 in health related costs (my portion) that our insurance didn't cover. Why? In part because I have neglected my own health in exchange for the demands of the church.
I don't have to tell anyone that most of us pastors work long hours. We often carry the weight of counseling people through broken marriages, financial disasters, illness, death, joblessness and a growing list of needs that require us to raise lots of money, visit lots of people, attend many meetings and care for a wide array of institutional needs. And, all of that, in addition to trying to be attentive spouses and parents. Exhaustion sets in and we just give up on attending to our own needs.
Will you join me in making a change? The fact is, when we don't take care of ourselves, we also are hurting the church and those we love. When we don't eat right, exercise regularly or take vacation and study leaves, we are essentially saying, "The world and the church can't exist without me. I'm the glue that holds everything together."
I challenge my colleagues in pastoral ministry to set a new course. I know I need to do this! I've set a goal to lose 20 pounds by July, to get back to the gym, to make sure I take my time off and vacation days, even if some folks in the church don't like it. Whenever there is a complimentary health screening, I'm there. I'm taking walks with my wife. I'm spending time with my children. I'm getting some fresh air. I'm going to strive to make my health disciplines equal to my spiritual disciplines.
But then, as John Wesley once noted, perhaps this is just another way of being concerned for the whole person and the body of Christ.
Todd Outcalt serves as senior pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Brownsburg, Ind.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008