Zac Allen: Why We Need this MicroConference
Zac Allen is a PlantR Board Member, the founding Pastor of Austin Bible Church, and now serves as the Campus Pastor of Austin Stone's West Campus.
If you are a leader, you are likely a Minimizer. Minimizers are real people who take direct and indirect shrapnel coming in the form of sharp criticism and do their best not to let those words define them. Minimizers are real people who take the repeated pounding of disappointment after disappointment and keep leading. Minimizers are real people who have broad shoulders, but the weight of that leadership finally weighs so much, it hinders their ability to lead.
I am a Minimizer. And after starting and leading and pastoring a church plant for 5 years, I literally CRASHED! In the middle of my last sermon leading Austin Bible, I heard this voice in my head say, “Shut your mouth and walk off the stage, you’re done.” And a few weeks later in the midst of an unplanned Sabbatical, I found myself in the darkest, deepest, most hopeless place of my life. That place where people think about taking their lives and that place where people make irrational decisions that have forever consequences. This wasn’t burnout, this was flat-out depression with a capital D.
I had those same friends Job had, trying to counsel me and find answers to my suffering. I had pastors drill me to find the lies I was believing about my identity, and place I was not believing the gospel. My body, mind, and soul was sick and I needed emergency care.
You may identify with my state of burnout that led to depression, or at least share in the fact you are a Minimizer. Here is what you need to know: You will either heed words of wisdom and seek health when burnout comes, or you will neglect the warning signs and literally crash.
Pastors and Leaders, you need Soul Care. And that is why you need to attend this micro-conference led by David Murray, author of the booklet Christians Get Depressed, Too.
For the sake of your own health, your family’s health, your church’s health, your city’s health, meet me on May 10th at 9 AM for the PlantR MicroConference.
The Soul Care MicroConference will take place on May 10. You can purchase tickets and team passes today!
