Working for the church or other Christian organization often means working on Sundays. That might be most obvious for pastors responsible for Sunday morning worship, but that’s also the case for many others as well. Think of denominational staff and those involved in parachurch ministries who travel to speak at different churches on Sunday mornings. Or those on shift work in care homes as nursing staff, preparing meals, cleaning, or performing other duties.

“It may be legal, but the ethics stink!”

I winced at my friend’s comment about a Christian organization’s poor employment practices, but I knew he was right.

That’s why I read and blogged about Richard Kyte’s Ethical Business–because ethical decision-making doesn’t happen automatically even for those who claim to be Christian.

Several months ago I asked, Is Self-Care Part of Your Paid Employment, and Should It Be? Of readers who responded to the interactive poll, 50% said yes, 25% said no, 25% it depends.

Since then, I’ve done more reading on self-care as it relates to church employment, and today I share the most helpful articles I’ve found.

A pastor shared a personal struggle with a group of other pastors at a denominational gathering. Several expressed support, and the group prayed together, but one of the pastors later expressed this caution:

You probably shared because you thought it was a safe place, but I submit to you that it’s not.

When I’m at church on a Sunday morning, I’m usually up front welcoming everyone to worship, leading prayer, or preaching. But one Sunday morning, as our youth led worship, I actually sat in the balcony with my husband. “How does it feel to have a week off?” one of our church members asked me.