Pivot

#88: Preventing Pastoral Burnout: Insights and Strategies from Rev. Nicole Bullock

Rev. Nicole Bullock, church planter and ministry innovator, shares her personal journey and offers practical strategies for avoiding burnout in ministry.

Pastoral burnout is a silent epidemic in church leadership. In this crucial episode of the Pivot Podcast, we sit down with Rev. Nicole Bullock, a church planter, ministry innovator, and program director of Faith+Lead’s Seeds Fellowship. Nicole courageously shares her personal struggles with burnout and offers practical wisdom for sustainable ministry.

This episode tackles real challenges facing today’s pastors, from setting boundaries without guilt to redefining success in leadership. Nicole discusses balancing family life with pastoral responsibilities, creating supportive church communities, and transitioning to more sustainable ministry models. Whether you’re currently experiencing burnout or want to prevent it, this conversation provides essential strategies for maintaining your passion and effectiveness in ministry.

Show Notes:

Shift Ministry Models
Faithful InnovationCultivate CommunityMinistry Leadership

Featuring

Nicole Bullock Headshot

Nicole Bullock

Nicole Bullock is lead pastor, along with her husband, Geoff, of Blue Oak Church based in the Twin Cities.

Meet Your Hosts

  • Dr. Alicia Granholm

    Alicia Granholm is senior director of Faith+Lead and a leadership and church consultant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She helps pastors and leaders engage culture to make a lasting impact. For nearly two decades, she has trained, equipped, and empowered followers of Jesus to engage their local communities by contextualizing the Gospel and its application. Alicia compassionately crosses cultural boundaries having lived, studied, traveled, and served in 25 countries on six continents. Alicia has a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, Global Consulting (Regent University), MDiv (Bethel Seminary), and MA in Teaching (University of St. Thomas).

  • Dr. Dwight Zscheile

    Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

    A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.