Finding peace at Shadow Rest

Ministers listen to people's problems and offer counsel. They live their lives in front of their congregations.

But when a pastor has a problem, where can he go for help?

The Rev. Fred Burgard and his business partner, Paul Cordes, have opened Shadow Rest Ministries just outside Cape Girardeau. Shadow Rest is a quiet place with two rustic cabins where a minister -- and his wife -- can go to sort out problems, take a short rest or reflect on life.

In addition to offering respite for ministers, Shadow Rest has a large barnlike building for church groups or other small groups or businesses to hold a retreat or have a meeting in a quiet location away from interruptions.

Burgard knows firsthand the need for Shadow Rest.

The Rev. Fred Burgard stood in one of the new cabins built recently at Shadow Rest Ministries. (Diane L. Wilson)

"I have been in the ministry going on 23 years," he said. "One of the things I've noticed is a lot of pastors get burned out. Five or six years ago my wife and I were really burned out. We tried to look for a place we could go, and the closest place was in North Carolina."

Burgard first came to Cape Girardeau in 1993. He was pastor of what is now Grace Bible Church. He later became the co-pastor at Cape Bible Chapel. When he left there, he didn't know what to do.

"You get burned out and you get to a point where you can't talk to anyone about it," Burgard said. "You will go to the congregation and say, 'I feel God is moving me on. I'm leaving to go to another church.'"

So the pastor leaves, but he takes his problems with him and they resurface at the new church. And the cycle starts anew.

Burgard and Cordes, a local pathologist, became friends at Cape Bible Chapel, and Cordes could see something was bothering his friend.

A barn turned into a group meeting place is part of a retreat at Shadow Rest Ministries.

"One of the things I have heard from pastors is there's nobody to talk to," Cordes said. "If they talk to the [church] board, they're likely to be fired. If they have a place to come to, it's like a retreat. They can get away and take a deep breath. Sometimes it's all they need."

Shadow Rest is on 43 acres off County Road 635. Burgard lives nearby, and among the neighbors are the deer, who walk through the woods. The ministry is funded through donations from individuals and businesses, as well as from the use of the buildings. Burgard's son-in-law, a contractor, helped by framing the buildings, and Burgard and volunteers finished them.

"The Lord has been very, very good," Burgard said. "We don't have any debt. I can do the ministry without worrying about raising funds all the time."

The ministry is nondenominational, and Burgard intends to keep it that way. He doesn't want it to be controlled by any particular church.

"A pastor can get away and nobody in his congregation will walk in," he said. "They can feel very safe."

Rocking chairs placed in back of a barn turned into a group meeting place are to help relax visiting ministers at the recently built Shadow Rest Ministries, in Cape Girardeau County. (Diane L. Wilson)

The two cabins are fully furnished and decorated in a cozy, rustic fashion. Each has a fully stocked kitchen, shower, a king-size bed, a cozy living area and plenty of quiet.

The larger building has comfortable, well-equipped meeting areas. Burgard holds Sunday night services in a coffeehouse-type setting, where people worship with a praise band and bring food for a potluck meal afterward.

"I came to know the Lord in 1971 in a coffeehouse" in East Peoria, Ill., Burgard said. "I want to get back to that more laid-back atmosphere."

Burgard and Cordes plan to build two more cabins and a multipurpose building, and perhaps add small prayer cottages in the wooded area behind the main building, where they are currently adding walking trails.

For more information about Shadow Rest Ministries, visit the Web site at www.shadowrest.org.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160