The Authentic Pastor

03/31/2026

Wrapped another cohort last week. Honestly one of the best groups we’ve had. Good food, good laughs, and the kind of honest conversation pastors don’t get enough of. Grateful for these people.

03/17/2026

We're running the first-ever March Madness Bracket Challenge — and the winner gets a free seat in one of our 2026 Pastor Cohorts. That's a $4,200 value! Keep it for yourself or gift it to someone in your life who needs it.

All you have to do is fill out your bracket before Thursday's first games tip off. Ministry is serious work. Brackets are not. Both matter this week.

Enter at the link below 👇

03/17/2026

New article today: March Madness as a mirror for ministry leaders. The scoreboard problem. The 16-seed problem. And the one question worth sitting with this week.

Link in bio.

03/17/2026

https://www.theauthenticpastor.com/blog/why-march-madness-is-a-mirror-for-ministry-leaders

March Madness reveals what ministry leaders already know—when metrics replace mission, you pay the price. And nobody thought to ask if you were okay.

03/17/2026

Sunday afternoon I watched Michigan lose to Purdue. Not my finest hour as a Michigan man.

But sitting with my youngest son during the Selection Show — watching him argue that his MSU Spartans were going to the Elite Eight — I started thinking about what this tournament has actually become. And what it accidentally mirrors about ministry.

The money got too big. The system drifted. Nobody designed it this way — it evolved, one television deal at a time, until even the people who benefited most from it will tell you privately: this isn't what it was supposed to be.

The American church did the same thing.

I wrote about it today — including what I'd say to every pastor sitting alone on a Monday morning wondering what's wrong with them.

Nothing is wrong with you. You're playing a different game with different resources and being measured by the same scoreboard.

That's a system problem you inherited, not one you created.

Full article in the comments.

03/09/2026

Pastors are reading Ministry Cancer. Here’s what they are saying. Available now on Amazon.

03/03/2026

I went to bed last night feeling pretty amazing. And then I woke up at 5:30 AM and broke my rules and checked my phone before my morning routine. Now, I’m on social media before a shower. My whole ritual is off. But I guess sometimes it’s ok to bend your own rules when your new book hits #1 on Amazon overnight. Beyond humbled and grateful today.

03/03/2026

Grateful for the first day and all the support. Thank you!

03/03/2026

I'm excited to finally release this book today for the ministry world after years of work, research, and writing. Link in bio.

03/02/2026

It's here.

Tim Eldred has been working toward this day for a long time. Ministry Cancer: Dying to Serve is available on Amazon today.

A pastor's story of how close he came to losing everything — and the five toxic patterns hiding inside ministry that almost killed him.

If you're in ministry, or you love someone who is — this was written for you.

It might be the most uncomfortable thing you read this year.

Grab your copy →

Ministry Cancer: Dying to Serve — Why Doing Everything Right Is Still Killing Pastors

11/17/2025

We're killing ourselves and calling it faithfulness.

91% of pastors have experienced burnout. 18% have contemplated self-harm in the past year. 80% say ministry has negatively impacted their families.

These aren't just statistics. These are our brothers and sisters. Maybe it's you.

When Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself," He wasn't giving us permission to destroy ourselves in the name of ministry. The verse is "as yourself"—not instead of yourself.

If your church can't function without you sacrificing your health, your marriage, and your sanity—that's not God's design.

That's dysfunction.

It's time we stopped pretending this is normal.

The system is broken. But there's another way to lead—one that doesn't require self-destruction as the price of faithfulness.

Read the full article:

91% of pastors experience burnout. 18% have contemplated su***de in the past year. We built systems that destroy people and called it faithfulness. Time to stop.