Healthy Leaders, Healthy Churches
As a church planter, your to-do list can oftentimes seem overwhelming. You’re constantly on the move casting vision, building teams and leaders, all the while caring for hurting people. Yet, while leading others, it’s easy to forget to lead yourself well and look after your health.
Starting or leading a church is a calling that requires spiritual, emotional, and physical vitality. The demands of ministry will sometimes lead to long workdays, poor nutrition, a lack of exercise, and high stress levels—ultimately leaving leaders drained and vulnerable to burnout. But here’s the truth: your health directly impacts your ability to lead effectively.
Taking care of your health is not selfish; it’s stewardship. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and maintaining it is an act of obedience and gratitude. Prioritizing your health allows you to bring energy, clarity, and resilience to the ministry God has entrusted to you.
This year, we encourage you to commit to small, intentional changes that will strengthen your well-being. Whether it’s starting your day with a brisk walk out in nature, going to counseling to process your emotions, or simply taking time to rest and meditate on the goodness of God, these habits can make a world of difference.
Your congregation, your family, and most importantly, your relationship with God and others will benefit when your health improves. Remember, a thriving leader fosters a thriving ministry. Let 2025 be the year you honor God not just with your ministry, but with the way you care for your health. To help you do that, we’ve filled this month’s newsletter with ideas and resources you can use to invest in your health, so you can serve God out of the overflow of your well-being. Enjoy!
-Patrick Bradley, Director of Operations
January 2025 – Content
- Emotionally Fit
- Mentally Fit
- Financially Fit
- Physically Fit
Emotionally Fit

How’s your heart? If you’re a pastor, you’ve probably asked others this question recently because you care about the emotional health of the people God’s placed under your care. But what about you? How’s your heart, pastor? Jesus wants you to be healthy emotionally as much as he wants that for the people in your church, so take some time to assess how you’re doing emotionally these days. Take this free assessment from Emotionally Healthy Discipleship to gauge your current health level.
If you find this assessment helpful, check out the other resources from Pete Scazzero and the team at Emotionally Healthy Discipleship. One of our favorites resources from Pete is his free eBook The Emotionally Healthy Church Planter.
Mentally Fit

As a leader, your life is filled with challenges. With all those challenges it can be easy to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. Yet, cultivating gratitude can be a powerful tool to combat stress and anxiety. This is why God’s word tells us to seek God’s peace in our lives through prayers of thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6-7). Gratitude shifts our perspective, helping us appreciate the blessings in our lives rather than dwelling on worries.
According to research by neuroscientists, spending time focusing on what you have to be grateful for helps improve sleep, mood, and immunity by aiding your brain to control the amount of cortisol it creates while increasing the production of dopamine and serotonin (natural anti-depressants).1
A simple practice, like writing down three things you’re grateful for each day, can lower stress levels and help saturate your heart and mind with God’s peace and joy. Try this: right after your alarm goes off in the morning, recite or write out Psalm 118:1 and then thank God for three things you are grateful for. That’s a small discipline with life-changing impact.
Financially Fit

Church planting is a calling that requires not only faith, but also significant financial sacrifice. Many church planters leave stable jobs, invest personal savings, and forgo material comforts to pursue the vision God has placed in their hearts. These sacrifices often extend to their families, as they step into seasons of as Kingdom entrepreneurs. Fortunately, church planters do have an advantage when it comes to saving for retirement. That’s through starting a 403(b)9 plan.
Unlike a Roth IRA which invests already-taxed dollars, or a traditional Roth that taxes withdrawals, contributions into a 403(b)9 plan come out your paycheck pre-tax and, if you qualify for ministerial housing allowance, can be distributed tax-free as a housing allowance (once you are 59½ yrs. old).2 This type of plan has the potential of saving you thousands of dollars in taxes. Financial organization that serve clergy like Servant Solutions and Guardian Wealth Management can help you set up a 403b(9) plan. These organizations love serving church planters. They will also help you develop a personal retirement strategy free of charge to ensure you’re capitalizing on every advantage the IRS tax code offers ministers. That way you can grow in your financial well-being this year and invest more of the resources God’s entrusted to you into His Kingdom.
Physically Fit

As we equip our church planting residents to make disciples and start new churches, one thing we always encourage them to have in their lives is a “third space.” This third space is a place in their community where they can meet new people and evangelize. One common third space for our church planters is the gym.
Group Fitness oriented gyms, like a CrossFit box or an F45 franchise, offer pastors a unique way to stay healthy while building friendships. The workouts improve physical strength, energy, and mental clarity, equipping pastors to handle ministry’s demands with resilience.
Beyond the physical benefits, group fitness gyms foster camaraderie and support—providing pastors with an outlet outside their church circles. It’s a space to connect, be encouraged, and even pastor non-believers where they are. By prioritizing health and relationships, pastors not only model stewardship but also strengthen themselves to serve their congregations more effectively. Joining a fitness community near you can be a ministry game-changer this year!
If community impact through fitness is your thing, check out the nZone, the gym that New Life Christian Church (Passion for Planting’s home base) started to serve its community in Jesus’ name.