Book Review - Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic 
Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic
Author: Anne Jackson
Publisher: Zondervan, 2009
Reviewer: David Kinnaman, President, Barna Group
Are you suffering from Mad Church Disease? It is the illness facing church leaders who – despite their best efforts to serve God and his people – are killing themselves spiritually, physically, emotionally or relationally.
In the book, Mad Church Disease , popular author and blogger, Anne Jackson, digs into the causes, symptoms and solutions of a wide variety of challenges stemming from church work. Anne should know: she’s a pastor’s kid and has been employed in churches. I doubt there is anything quite like the dynamics of working in a church when it comes to the pressure it puts on leaders. And Anne captures the experiences and causes of burnout effectively.
The book is deep, but not stuffy. It is funny, but not cynical. It is easy to read, without being simplistic. Anne’s writing is poignant and personal, without being tacky. It takes a long, hard look at the difficulties of church work, while asking readers to face their problems.
Ultimately, Mad Church Disease is not just about solutions, it is a solution. It is a tool that can be used by a church staff or by individuals. It contains helpful interviews with church leaders who have lived through Mad Church Disease. And it offers worksheets to start private or group discussions about the issues of personal and spiritual health. Use this great new tool to find and restore healthy margins in your life.
D.K.
thanks so much for the review, david!! really appreciate it & linked to it from my blog today.
I appreciate the insights of the book review. I have a been pastoring
since 1972. Like most others I have felt the pressure from within and without. We seem to be struggling with a number of paradigms for church work and a multiplicity of hermaneutics of scripture. Spirituality is much refined and saught after. When I started there were only a few of each of these. We were working to make the church the center of people’s lives. I have always believed in it. My family spent multiple hours each week at the church. This has not proven to be of great benefit. The institutions I have struggle hard to build and in many case been successful seem to have lost their way somehow. Everything seems now to be pointing back to the original intention, to lift Christ up. This in itself might be a burning experience. I look forward to reading the book. Thanks Marshall Gupton