This workshop helps participants consider how they care for themselves as leaders and how they encourage and model self-care for other members of the congregation.
Participants reflect on the causes of personal stress and burnout and on their own responses to stress. They name ways they can take care of their own spirits and practice asking for what they need from a leadership group to help them participate with a full heart.
In This Section
Introduction
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
This workshop helps participants consider how they care for themselves as leaders and how they encourage and model self-care for other members of the congregation.
Opening
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Gather the group in a circle. Ask a participant to light the chalice as you and the group engage in the opening words, either singing “Here We Have Gathered” or responsively reading “We Need One Another.”
Activity 1: Heads Up!
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
In this activity, participants toss a bean bag or other soft object to one another while naming tasks and people that demand their time and attention on a daily or weekly basis.
Activity 2: Bodies of Water Guided Meditation
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Begin by reminding participants that they have agreed to respect the confidentiality of personal information and stories shared here. Invite participants to settle into a comfortable space for meditation.
Activity 3: Working and Coping Styles
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Distribute paper and pens or pencils. Read aloud this scenario: The board of your congregation has just asked you to be part of a new seven-person committee to work on an issue of great importance to the congregation.
Activity 4: What I Need
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
In this activity, participants focus on their particular role as a congregational leader and name parts of that role that they find stressful, energizing, or both.
Activity 5: Confessions of a Prodigal Volunteer
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Invite participants to listen to the volunteer(s) read the story. Engage the group in conversation with these questions: What aspects of the author’s story resonated for you?
Activity 6: Keeping Priorities Straight in Congregations
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Introduce this activity: As congregational leaders, we must be aware that we are role models. Our actions and behavior can add to or decrease the stress of others in the congregation. How we handle situations that arise sets the tone for how others respond.
Faith In Action: Keeping Priorities Straight
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Invite committees or other leadership groups in the congregation to read Handout 1 together and consider its implications for the work they do. Offer to attend a group meeting and share the Harvest the Power group’s suggestions as to what it means and how it looks to keep the congregation’s priorities straight.
Closing
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Distribute copies of Taking It Home or tell the group when you will email it. Invite participants to share two minutes of silence to honor the important work the group has done together.
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Consider and discuss these questions with your co-facilitator: Looking at each activity in this workshop, what worked as well as or better than you had anticipated? What did not work as well as you had anticipated? What issues came up for you personally in trying any activity yourself?
Alternate Activity 1: Juggling Act
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
This is activity is a physical demonstration of having to balance many demands at the same time. While juggling (or while your guest juggles), tell participants that congregational leaders are like jugglers trying to keep all the balls in the air.
Alternate Activity 2: Burnout—a Misnomer
From Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition
Invite participants to listen to a reading of the poem in Handout 2. Use these questions to prompt a group discussion: What images or words resonated for you? Are there times in your life when you have felt burned out?
Download all of Harvest the Power, 2nd Edition (Word) (PDF ) to edit or print.