Feed My Shepherds: Spiritual Healing and Renewal for Those in Christian Leadership

By: Flora Slosson Wuellner

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Synopsis: A church member has just lost a parent. Another member is scheduled for surgery. Yet another member is having marital problems. Just another day in the life of a congregation. Church leaders (both clergy and lay) give immeasurable comfort and nourishment to those in need. But it sometimes leaves them drained, stressed, and wounded. Feed My Shepherds addresses the struggles and burnout experienced by those in caregiving ministries and offers practical tips to practice healthy spirituality. ""While all Christians need nurture, the active leader who encounters spiritual and emotional stress daily has special, urgent needs,"" writes Wuellner. ""If the shepherd is not fed along with the sheep, that inner hunger and fatigue, those unhealed hurts can cause the shepherd to do great, unconscious harm to those within his or her care."" By looking at the intense, healing relationship between the risen Jesus and his disciples, Wuellner offers a paradigm of healing for today's disciples as well. She draws on scriptures from the Gospels' post-Resurrection narratives and adds spiritual reflection, personal questions, and guided meditations that can meet a variety of needs.