Rev. Dr. Richard Howell, former General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the Asia Evangelical Alliance, warned at the All India Congress on Church in Mission (AICOCIM) that pastors often struggle in deep isolation and urgently need safe spaces to share their burdens.
Speaking spontaneously after a session focused on mental health, Howell said pastors are “the most lonely breed on the face of this earth,” noting that many have no one with whom they can be fully vulnerable. He stressed that without intentional care, pastors risk moral failure, strained marriages, and emotional collapse.
“Who is shepherding the shepherd?” he asked delegates. “Hardly any.”
Howell described examples from across Asia where pastoral couples, when brought together in safe settings, were able to express grievances, repent, and ultimately find healing. He said such opportunities remain rare, leaving many church leaders to suffer in silence while projecting strength in public.
He cautioned that pastors are as vulnerable as anyone else to temptation. “If Satan wants to break anything, it will be the pastor’s home.”
Howell offered Caleb Institute, which he founded near Delhi, as a space that is open and free of charge to pastors who want a place to rest, reflect, and seek counsel.
“We have accommodation for you. Come with your wife. We’ll keep you, feed you. We have counselors. We will talk with you,” he said. “We won’t charge you a penny for staying, won’t charge you a penny for food. Come talk to somebody and open up.”
He noted that a number of pastors have already found help through such initiatives and invited others to make use of the opportunity before problems deepen.
Responding to Howell’s remarks, the current EFI leadership highlighted efforts to form a “shepherding commission” that would mobilize experienced pastors to mentor younger leaders. The initiative aims to provide the kind of support Howell described, creating networks of care across India’s churches.
Howell closed by thanking those who had presented on mental health during the Congress. “Thank God for who presented the papers to us and taught us to be vulnerable,” he said. “If he could be, I think all of us need to.”
