So many Pastors are now leaving ministry wounded and burnout. The Body of Christ must not forget or abandon its wounded soldiers. Join us to clean their wounds and support their recovery.

The Pastoral Support Ministry of Candlelighters International (CI) is a Shepherding Ministry through which we jointly serve to support pastors and their families in areas involving emotional, relational, physical and spiritual health, during difficult times. We work with our partners to restore and/or accompany believers involved in the Pastoral Ministry, whom are currently experiencing difficulty in the following areas: discharging their pastoral duties, making a transition to a better, healthier and improved pastoral calling, making a transition unto other marketplace ministries or careers, being a spouse of a troubled pastor, being a child of a troubled pastor, etc. Simply put, we serve those who serve others.

We do this under the slogan: “Pastors are also Sheep and not the Chief Shepherd – Jesus the Christ”

A Very Demanding Ministerial Call

The Pastoral Ministry could be said to be the-tip-of-the-spear kind of ministry, which is very open to all kinds of attacks. At Candlelighters International we have a strong passion and a call-to-act in order to support such a ministry and its pastors. The Great Harvest will require solidly trained and well accompanied Pastors if the flocks is to be properly taken care of and nurtured. Unfortunately, pastors themselves are often left unsupported and lonely in private. Hence, private challenges with a very high possibility of driving them down a slippery slope of a compromised life with hidden sins.

At CI we understand that very often within the “Body of Christ,” either some pastors present and position themselves as super-men or superwomen who are above everyone, in a manner that seems to indicate that they are most endowered to hear and relate with God more than everyone; or church members themselves turn to elevate their pastors unto super-men or superwomen status, far more than what the scripture says in 1 Tim. 5:17 and 1 Thess. 5:12-13. Such actions from members might be as a result of ignorance, laziness and/or some form of subcontracting to their pastors the personal responsibilities of developing a solid relation with the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In any case, these two situations always make life very difficult for pastors, during challenging times that always come to all. Such pastors find it difficult to open up concerning their challenges and difficulties; be it with respect to discharging their duties to the congregation, managing their homes and families, or managing other relationships and habits. Admitting to any form of challenge by such pastors is usually seen to be threatening to their elevated status.

Question: When did you lastly pray for your pastor and his family for at least 20 mins?

Pastor or Clergy Burnout

At Candlelighters International, apart from hidden sins, we also understand that pastors are particularly susceptible to suffer from “burnout.” The simple reason being that pastors are largely expected to understand life and to explain it better to people. They are expected to do so week-after-week, year-after-year. Therefore, there is a very high probability that when things don’t turn out to be the way pastors have been preaching or teaching, and when people’s lives are not being transformed, there comes a time when there is an internal conflict within the pastor. This usually happens between a pastor’s beliefs about how life and ministry are supposed to be and how they really are. What usually follows the ministry of such a pastor is internal frustration, confusion, and disillusionment, which leads to an inconsistency between a pastor’s beliefs about life and ministry, and the daily realities of life. This is what is known as Pastor or Clergy Burnout.

Pastoral Burnout is deadly and stands as a silent killer of Pastoral Ministries. It develops a sense of inadequacy and failure in the life of the pastor, in a way that could develop a strong sense of inability to do ministry different from how it has been done previously.

Apart from burnout that emerge from the protracted existence of hidden sins in the life of a Pastor, spiritual burnout is a very humbling experience. You do not only become worn out physically, mentally and emotionally, but you also lost much of your spiritual bearings, your hope and your ideals. You simple start experiencing bluntness in your emotions and the general sense of disengagement sets in. Your become demoralized, depressed, and disillusioned. Mostly some people turn to have a strange anger against God. Lots of questions start surfacing from within, such as: Will I ever have hope again? Will I ever trust God again as much as before? Am I ever going to get my zeal back again? Does all the “Churchiness” even matter?

Within this context, if pastors are not trained to engage their ministerial calling as “Assistant Shepherds” and not as the “Chief Shepherd,” and to make every attempt in their Pastoral Journey to reject any unhealthy elevation to superman status from their congregations, then it becomes absolutely impossible for pastors to admit, accept or reveal their weaknesses in time difficulties.

Pastor’s Family

We understand the challenges and burden that the family of anyone in ministry face. It is particularly challenging for the family of a pastor; the spouse and kids. Therefore, in Candlelighters International, we provide Pastoral Support in a holistic fashion, utilizing the other services we provide in order to support strengthen and heal family members of affected pastors.

In all we do, confidentiality is central and the deep respect for your privacy is ultimate. With profound love and admiration we consider you to be just a wounded soldier in the battlefield still full of potential. Your courage to first decide to engage in the battle must be applauded. We do value you and your contribution to the Great Commission.

Our Support

By the grace, power and provision of God in Jesus the Christ, we strife to provide you with these three things:

1. a safe place for recovery,
2. a safe person to share with, and
3. a safe time to rethink

You are special and precious to us, and we want you to know that, for all wounded soldiers, through prayer, we are constantly seeking God’s intervention for their re-discovery, recovery, and victory in a fresh and new way through the absolute power of the Holy Spirit.

Contact us and you will never regret it.