Fragmented and Burning Out — Why Wholeness Isn’t Optional Anymore
You can feel it in the room: the quiet weariness that no sermon series or staff retreat can fix. Ministry leaders everywhere are burning out—not just from overwork, but from trying to live in pieces.
Their spiritual life is rich, but their emotional life is ignored.
Their minds are sharp, but their bodies are breaking down.
They carry everyone’s burdens, but don’t know where to place their own.
It’s not a lack of faith.
It’s fragmentation.
This Isn’t Just Exhaustion. It’s Disconnection.
We’ve inherited a system that taught us to compartmentalize the soul.
Feeling anxious? See a therapist.
Feeling spiritually stuck? Talk to a pastor.
Feeling overwhelmed? Take a vacation.
But what if the real issue isn’t what you’re doing—it’s how your life has been split apart?
In a fragmented culture, integration is not a luxury. It’s survival.
The Limits of Our Models Are Showing
In a recent Lifeway study, 75% of pastors said they’re deeply concerned about mental health in their congregations—but only 30% feel equipped to address it from the pulpit. That gap isn’t just logistical—it’s formational.
People are bringing real emotional and psychological pain into the church. But many leaders were never trained to hold trauma, process grief, or discern between spiritual conviction and clinical anxiety.
That’s not a failure of calling. It’s a lack of formation.
The Church’s Beautiful Legacy Isn’t Lost
Throughout history, the Church has walked with people through war, grief, illness, and injustice. Confession, lament, healing prayer, and communal care were never just “spiritual disciplines”—they were soul-saving practices.
Many churches are recovering those rhythms. Some never lost them. Others are realizing formation must go deeper than belief and behavior—it must reach the whole person.
Therapy didn’t replace the Church. It filled a gap when leaders were expected to do everything alone, without support or tools to navigate complexity.
Therapists and Pastors Are Stronger Together
At Praxis, we believe the best care happens when spiritual formation and clinical wisdom are brought together—not in competition, but in partnership.
We’re forming therapists who know how to sit with suffering and speak of hope.
We’re resourcing churches who want to care for their people—and their pastors—with more depth and clarity.
We’re helping ministry leaders become whole, so they can lead from wholeness.
Ministry Shouldn’t Cost You Your Soul
You were trained to shepherd others, but not always to name your own wounds.
You were given theology, but not always tools for trauma.
You were taught to rejoice, but not to recover.
You were never meant to lead from depletion.
You were meant to live from abundance.
Abundance comes when your soul is integrated—mind, body, spirit, community, and calling working together.
An Invitation
If you feel frayed or fragmented, you’re not failing. You’re being invited.
You don’t have to choose between emotional health and spiritual depth.
You don’t have to carry this alone.
You were made to live whole.
Let’s recover that vision—together.