How many times in one week is a local church leader faced with a crisis situation? More often than most people would think. Physical, emotional, and spiritual traumas erupt at every turn. How can leaders handle the pressure?

Following is a diary of one pastor's week. In six days he is faced with at least ten critical problems.

The cumulative weight of that many dilemmas takes its toll unless a pastor has ways to cope. Many end up seeking outside help on how to handle the pressures. At the end of the diary, Dale Frimodt, a psychologist with an Omaha pastoral counseling service called Barnabas Ministries, answers some of the questions this kind of pressure-packed lifestyle raises.

Monday

For sedateness most people would place a church office just one notch above a funeral parlor. They couldn't be more wrong.

People come and go continually while four telephone buttons blink incoming calls. Three office workers, a social worker, several custodians, a business administrator, and seven pastors are ...