Do You Have Chronic Anxiety? And the Complexity of Lead Pastors with Steve Cuss

Steve Cuss talks about how to recognize if you have chronic anxiety (or anxieties), how to handle people who get their kicks out of kicking the leader, and the problem with the complex job descriptions of Lead Pastors.
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Chapters
00:00 - How to Deal with Anxiety in Leadership
02:33 - Top 3 Issues for Leaders
05:58 - Steve Cuss on the Lead Pastor's Role
12:17 - The Complicated Job Description of a Pastor
23:36 - On the Role of Being a Lead Pastor
29:34 - The State of the Health of Church Leaders
36:31 - Are Millennials Optimistic About the Church?
37:20 - How to Tell When You're Having Anxiety
43:00 - How to Overcome Chronic Anxiety
55:08 - How to Stop Criticism in Your Heart
56:39 - The Body Holding On to Trauma
59:49 - A Conscious List of Relationships

This was so rich. It reminded me of Dallas Willard’s words to John Ortberg: “The main thing that you bring the church is the person that you become, and that’s what everybody will see; that’s what will get reproduced; that’s what people will believe. Arrange your life so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.”

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@claudelaramee9556]

This is excellent ! I Love the honesty and wisdom. I'll be getting the book ! Thanks Carey and your team for your work and being a blessing to many !

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for watching!

[@mikehopper5911]

Thanks so much for this interview

[@elishamartin6042]

I could listen to this guy Steve all day. Wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and compassion...wow. Wish he could be my therapist.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for watching!

[@sambray9888]

Thanks for this video. I’m a 30 y/o lead pastor at a small church. The meshing of church wellbeing with my own is something that hit me between the eyes. Also, stressed all the time. But I think the Lord is using this season of my life to train my brain and emotions to depend more on what HE thinks of me - than what anyone else thinks. My church is very supportive - the anxiety of what others thinks is more from my own “worst case” imagination.

[@jagrimson6632]

Carey this is my first time commenting. I really enjoy your videos but this one, in this season, is spot on for me. 15yrs Pastor and taking a church over from my father-in-law has been very difficult. realizing my soul needs rest. Thank you both for the content. It hit home.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

So glad you resonated with this conversation.

[@elishamartin6042]

I am not a church leader but I really get alot out of these podcasts. I am in the field of architecture. It requires someone to be a very great leader. You have to coordinate the design, drawing, and construction of a whole building with a variety of disciplines and dealing with clients. You can get extremely burned out in this profession because it requires an enormous amount of time, energy, coordination of people and attention to detail. I have struggled with burn out and anxiety as a result of the extreme amount of hours I have had to work in the past to get drawings done as well as anxiety as a result of the extreme attention to detail architecture requires. I also have had alot of personal battles with my husband's health issues which resulted in PTSD and trauma. I would love an episode on recovering from trauma and ptsd as a leader. Also, an episode on how to deal with anxiety as a result of perfectionism. In architecture you kinda have to be a perfectionist to have quality drawings, but that leads to so much anxiety and sometimes depression when you feel like you've failed or made mistakes.

[@frjsblake]

Yes, this is wonderful. Thank you.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for listening

[@jamesparker92]

So good. Love Steve and their crew 🙌🏼. Thanks for putting this interview together!

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Hope it was helpful!

[@jamesparker92]

⁠@@CareyNieuwhofthanks it was!

[@rosedalecommunitychurch-re1169]

Steve's insights are so helpful. Particularly loved his perspective about Peter only walking on water once and the other disciples not at all. Thanks Carey and Steve.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lauragower8466]

Very helpful. After almost 30-years in ministry alongside my husband, we're still learning so much. And we are excited about the "ministry" the younger generation could have ahead of them! Thank you.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

You got this!

[@boblee335]

Another valuable interview Carey. I’m on my second watch. I appreciate the way Steve addresses overfunctioning and provides tools for us pastors to be more emotionally healthy and implement guardrails for sustainable ministry. Thank you!

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for sharing!

[@MichaelJordan-mt5sz]

This so rich and accurate of the reality of the pastorate and how to stay healthy but I would love for someone who is actually still living in the reality to say it and live it. Both of them are no longer pastoring and openly admit that they struggled with the same things when they were in it and how much they enjoyed the 100 to 0 experience of not having to deal with the constant criticism as soon as they stepped out of the pastorate. I realize that it is easier to give advice from the outside in and from a Ministry where people are inviting you to speak to them and are excited to have you speak for a few days and then you leave. I know they both know this is a reality. I don't have hard data on this but I wonder how many ex pastors turned speakers, Podcasters or other parachurch organization leaders have done so, not so much as a call but out of self preservation; for their own emotional and spiritual health? I believe there are many. There is authenticity and authority when a pastor who is still be criticized and is still wearing 10 different hat tells me about this reality and then how I can remain healthy in it.

[@MichaelJordan-mt5sz]

The image of someone running from a fire you are in and at the same time telling you how you can successfully live in that fire without being burned. I believe the culture and structure of at least the American church is not biblical nor is it healthy, it is a fire that burns it's leaders. The fire needs to be put out, not for leaders to try to learn to live in it.

[@MichaelJordan-mt5sz]

BTW- I am a fan of this podcast and am a long time consistant listener. I have bee. Blessed by the content.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@user-dh6no2wh4o]

Great discussion. Love hearing these points of view. Jesus rules.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Thanks for watching!

[@COHMaricopa2005]

And I thought I was the only person that cuts grass to control my environment. I often think, I can't control the people, but I can control the Bermuda. :)

[@CareyNieuwhof]

Haha yup

[@COHMaricopa2005]

Zed??? it's Z great interview. I'm a late boomer still in the ministry game.

[@CareyNieuwhof]

It's the Canadian in me, haha

[@JesusLeadershipTraining]

carey what was the name of his bk...thanks greg

[@CareyNieuwhof]

He is the author of Managing Leadership Anxiety and The Expectation Gap.

[@JesusLeadershipTraining]

thanks have them coming...greg​@@CareyNieuwhof