Sometimes I read a book that truly touches me. And Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic is the most recent, I have read. Mad Church Disease is an amazing book written by Anne Jackson (@flowerdust for you Twitterers). It discusses the “dirty little secret” about working and serving in church: burnout.
Anne Jackson uses the symptoms of Mad Cow Disease to shine a light on the symptoms of Mad Church Disease. Sadly, there is no cure for Mad Cow Disease, but there ARE cures for Mad Church Disease. But they aren’t easy, then again, true healing never is.
Anne shares her story, along with stories from several other church leaders, as they discuss different ways that burnout has affected their ministries and themselves.
If you work or volunteer in a church, you MUST read Mad Church Disease. Like Anne says, burnout is not a matter of “if”, it’s more a matter a “when” and to what degree.
A couple of quotables:
- “I think that numbers have become an addiction.”
- “Sometimes, in order to heal, you have to hurt first.”
- “Mad church disease can and will strip away everything from your identity – from who you are in Christ.”
- “We cannot be dependent on ourselves and on God at the same time. When we consider the practice of rest, unnecessary, we also inevitably lose sight of the necessity of God.”
