Mad Church Disease - Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic
Growing up the daughter of a pastor, Anne Jackson experienced firsthand the conflict, stress, and struggle church leaders often face. She vowed her life in ministry would be different.
Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. After being released from the hospital, an associate pastor asked her, "Does working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?" The question was paramount in turning her life around.
Thinking she wasn't alone, Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of burnout.
Using anecdotal parallels between Mad Cow Disease and leadership trends in the church, she writes not only to help us realize what church leaders are facing, but also to provide practical and positive treatment plans.
Mad Church Disease is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry-vocational or volunteer-who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.
Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. After being released from the hospital, an associate pastor asked her, "Does working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?" The question was paramount in turning her life around.
Thinking she wasn't alone, Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of burnout.
Using anecdotal parallels between Mad Cow Disease and leadership trends in the church, she writes not only to help us realize what church leaders are facing, but also to provide practical and positive treatment plans.
Mad Church Disease is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry-vocational or volunteer-who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.
COME & HANG OUT...
please bring me chocolate.
To inquire about Anne speaking at your event, please email anne@flowerdust.net
=====
August 1-2, 2009
Oak Leaf Church Weekend Services
Cartersville, GA
Saturday at 6 pm
Sunday at 9:30 & 11:15 am
*(This is a make up visit from the one I had to cancel in May due to an illness!)
=====
September 11-12, 2009
CWC/2009
Los Angeles, CA
Biola University
*(A great web & social media conference that is oh-so-inexpensive!)
=====
September 17, 2009
Healing Place Church
Baton Rouge, LA
The Hub (20somethings/college) Service
@ The Annex - 8 pm
=====
October 7-9, 2009
Catalyst Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, October 7 - Catalyst Lab
Thursday & Friday - Hosting Catalyst Backstage
=====
October 27-29
Story
Chicago, IL
*(Behind the Scenes Stuff)
=====
November 5, 2009
National Outreach Convention
San Diego, CA
Mad Church Disease Discussion & Book Signing
=====
November 6-7, 2009
Lead Now/Fusion Conference
Dallas, TX
with Donald Miller, Francis Chan, George Barna, Mark Batterson, Catherine Rohr & others
=====
November 10-11, 2009
Dirt Conference
Little Rock, AR
New Life Church
*(This is going to be an amazing conference for creative people. Practical but encouraging and down-to-earth!)
=====
January 25, 2010
Belmont University
Nashville, TN (with Mike Foster)
=====
February 21, 2010
Kernstown United Methodist Church
Winchester, Virginia
Sunday Morning Services
8:30 & 11 am
=====
May 15-17, 2010
SHINE Conference
Celebration Church
Jacksonville, FL (with Christine Caine)
=====
=====
August 1-2, 2009
Oak Leaf Church Weekend Services
Cartersville, GA
Saturday at 6 pm
Sunday at 9:30 & 11:15 am
*(This is a make up visit from the one I had to cancel in May due to an illness!)
=====
September 11-12, 2009
CWC/2009
Los Angeles, CA
Biola University
*(A great web & social media conference that is oh-so-inexpensive!)
=====
September 17, 2009
Healing Place Church
Baton Rouge, LA
The Hub (20somethings/college) Service
@ The Annex - 8 pm
=====
October 7-9, 2009
Catalyst Atlanta
Atlanta, GA
Wednesday, October 7 - Catalyst Lab
Thursday & Friday - Hosting Catalyst Backstage
=====
October 27-29
Story
Chicago, IL
*(Behind the Scenes Stuff)
=====
November 5, 2009
National Outreach Convention
San Diego, CA
Mad Church Disease Discussion & Book Signing
=====
November 6-7, 2009
Lead Now/Fusion Conference
Dallas, TX
with Donald Miller, Francis Chan, George Barna, Mark Batterson, Catherine Rohr & others
=====
November 10-11, 2009
Dirt Conference
Little Rock, AR
New Life Church
*(This is going to be an amazing conference for creative people. Practical but encouraging and down-to-earth!)
=====
January 25, 2010
Belmont University
Nashville, TN (with Mike Foster)
=====
February 21, 2010
Kernstown United Methodist Church
Winchester, Virginia
Sunday Morning Services
8:30 & 11 am
=====
May 15-17, 2010
SHINE Conference
Celebration Church
Jacksonville, FL (with Christine Caine)
=====
Get Mad Church Disease
the book, not the actual disease.
Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic
Amazon Price: $13.25 (as of 11/11/2009) 
MAD CHURCH DISEASE ONLINE
check it out and say hello
- Mad Church Disease | The Church-Wide Burnout Epidemic
- The official website of Mad Church Disease
Some Schweet Links
Givin' Mad Church Disease Some Love
- Interview with Anne Jackson on Church Marketing Sucks
- Church Marketing Sucks interviews author Anne Jackson on the disease and potlucks.
- Fight Mad Church Disease Facebook Style
- Karate chops and nunchucks allowed
- The Official MCD MySpace Page
- MySpace is so yesterday, but we still have some friends hanging on!
- An interview with the Brown Blog
- Get inside my head some...and why pastors look at porn when they're away from home...
- Another interview - at Next Steps Leadership
- Great questions from Ryan. A good leadership interview.
Google MCD
it's more polite than ogling.
- Book Review: Mad Church Disease
- Like swine flu ravaging passengers on an airplane, Mad Church Disease is an epidemic running unchecked in churches all across the country. Sadly, victims of burnout look for comfort and relief in sin rather than God or his people. ...
- Design4Living Ministries
- I have just finished reading a very good book, Mad Church Disease, by Anne mad church disease Jackson, published by Zondervon. I highly recommend this book! It has alot to do with the crazy cycle we get into as Christians who serve, ...
- DanLacher.COM » Blog Archive » Mad Church Disease: Overcoming The ...
- Anne Jackson brings this very issue to light in her book Mad Church Disease: Overcoming The Burnout Epidemic. Instead of internalizing the fears, anger, sadness, and other emotions that can sometimes lead to and result in burnout, ...
- Book of the Month – July “Mad Church Disease” Anne Jackson
- 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. ...
Anne's Personal Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byForum for Discussing Mad Church Disease
Lensmaster
Susan David wrote
Hi,
We are inviting 10 pastors' wives to join a charter membership club for free for 2 months. Visit for more details: http://www.susandavidlifecoach.com/index.php/sponsors
You can also get a free Ebook at http://www.stoppastorburnout.com or just visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miF-R0bCz0A for additional info.
Thank you and God bless!
Posted July 17, 2009
KristinRussell wrote...
Your book looks really interesting,
Anne! And I think we have a friend in common: Keely Scott?
Posted May 27, 2008
Lensmaster
saralee wrote
Glad to see you have so many speaking gigs. Hope to see you in the KC area sometime!
Posted September 25, 2007
What Others Are Saying
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.
--Dave Kinnaman, President, Barna Group --Barna Group, June 2009
----
My first thought: "What does a twenty-eight-year-old know about burnout?" Then I read this story about a girl named Anne, who grew up in a pastor's home and has lived through enough experiences to know what she's talking about. Anne Jackson not only tells her own story, but she gracefully integrates principles that have me at times saying, "That's right!" and at other times admitting, "That's me." As soon as I can, I'll be ordering enough copies for our entire staff. -- Tim Stevens, executive pastor, Granger Community Church, Granger, Indiana, and author of Pop Goes the Church --Tim Stevens, executive pastor, Granger Community Church
----
Anne Jackson is the real deal. And I appreciate her honest approach to a touchy topic. Mad Church Disease is a must-read for anyone who has gotten burned or burned-out by the church. -- Mark Batterson, lead pastor, National Community Church, Washington, D.C., and author of Wild Goose Chase
----
From the perspective of her own devastating personal experience, as well as by means of strongly researched facts, Anne Jackson opens our eyes to the crisis of ministry burnout. This paralyzing and contagious condition has wounded so many in church leadership. Mad Church Disease is a light on the path to healing and health. -- Nancy Ortberg, Author, of Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands
Review
Every Christian leader intends to "finish our race well." Yet far too many of us end up escaping into sin or becoming numb, embittered, and angry. Mad Church Disease offers all of us the hope that we can actually make it to the end of the race, loving God and others with greater passion and being filled with audacious joy. Anne Jackson writes with raw honesty and hard-earned wisdom from her own story of burnout. -- Nancy Beach, teaching pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Illinois
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.
--Dave Kinnaman, President, Barna Group --Barna Group, June 2009
----
My first thought: "What does a twenty-eight-year-old know about burnout?" Then I read this story about a girl named Anne, who grew up in a pastor's home and has lived through enough experiences to know what she's talking about. Anne Jackson not only tells her own story, but she gracefully integrates principles that have me at times saying, "That's right!" and at other times admitting, "That's me." As soon as I can, I'll be ordering enough copies for our entire staff. -- Tim Stevens, executive pastor, Granger Community Church, Granger, Indiana, and author of Pop Goes the Church --Tim Stevens, executive pastor, Granger Community Church
----
Anne Jackson is the real deal. And I appreciate her honest approach to a touchy topic. Mad Church Disease is a must-read for anyone who has gotten burned or burned-out by the church. -- Mark Batterson, lead pastor, National Community Church, Washington, D.C., and author of Wild Goose Chase
----
From the perspective of her own devastating personal experience, as well as by means of strongly researched facts, Anne Jackson opens our eyes to the crisis of ministry burnout. This paralyzing and contagious condition has wounded so many in church leadership. Mad Church Disease is a light on the path to healing and health. -- Nancy Ortberg, Author, of Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands
Review
Every Christian leader intends to "finish our race well." Yet far too many of us end up escaping into sin or becoming numb, embittered, and angry. Mad Church Disease offers all of us the hope that we can actually make it to the end of the race, loving God and others with greater passion and being filled with audacious joy. Anne Jackson writes with raw honesty and hard-earned wisdom from her own story of burnout. -- Nancy Beach, teaching pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Illinois
by AnneJackson
Anne Jackson has traveled all over the world using online media to tell stories of those living in poverty. Anyone wielding a computer and an internet... (more)
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