We asked pastors to share with us their experiences with discouragement and to tell us where they find encouragement in their calling.

The sources of discouragement were familiar: the sheer burden of the time required to do the job, the demands on the pastor’s family, the pastor assuming the burdens of church members as his own, criticism, apathy, betrayal.

However, the encouragement pastors received from a number of sources often — although not always — trumped the debilitating effects of discouragement. Pastors reported finding encouragement mostly through other people: deacons, church leaders, fellow pastors, directors of missions, family members and in the camaraderie of other men. Some also said they found all the encouragement they needed in the Bible, itself.

Here are some of the responses we received.