Lives
Curing clergy burnout
Clerical life
by Alice Goodman
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ADAM Q
January: when the many services of Christmas are done and in the register, and Ash Wednesday hasn’t yet appeared over the horizon, is the classic time for a priest to escape from the parish. I’d been looking forward to my holiday in Yorkshire for a year and a half. I’d turned off my email, and handed all parish matters to the churchwardens to deal with. There would be services in the benefice, but other people would lead them. Meanwhile, I looked forward to reading in bed, walking on the beach, making a fire in the fireplace, reading more and then eating Christmas leftovers. I’d knit. I’d nap.
The things I’d been holding together in the parish had all come loose