Accepting What it Really Is

Over 20 years ago, when I experienced my first battle with depression, I clearly remember my physician tried to help remove the stigma from my diagnosis. He said, “you would be amazed how many of you I see with the same diagnosis? “Christians?” I replied. “Yes, but I specifically meant pastors. Christians tend to keep believing it is a faith issue and so they try […]

What Happened?

“Chuck, did you choose to become a pastor because it was an easy job?” One of my best friends in college asked me this question, and she was completely serious. Her perspective on what ordained ministry entailed was built on a number of assumptions. The assumptions fuel the classic comments I’ve received, like, “must be nice to only work an hour a week.” These beliefs […]

Waiting to Return

It’s been almost a year since I created a blog post. That is not a record I hoped to achieve, but the reality of life in a pandemic makes things challenging. So does battling depression, and that is where I continue to find myself. Shortly after Easter 2021, I began to notice I was not okay. My attempts to relieve stress and burnout were little […]