|
What Our Clients
Are Saying
CLERGY
KILLERS || PREVENTATIVE
CARE || CLERGY BURN-OUT
The following are
excerpted from unsolicited letter written by a few of our clients.
Particulars have been withheld for obvious reasons of
confidentiality.
CLERGY
KILLERS
I'm the senior pastor at
Presbyterian Church in
.. Beginning over
a year ago and reaching a peak last fall, I faced challenges
presented by what Lloyd Rediger refers to as a 'clergy killer' in
his book THE CLERGY KILLER. The clergy killer told me to my face
that he was out to destroy me. As a result of actions by he and his
friends, I was on the receiving end of insults, unfounded charges, a
petition, disruptions at a congregational meeting, an unsigned
letter to all Bethany members, and other serious actions that were
specifically designed to discredit and ultimately destroy my
ministry at Bethany as well as my personal reputation.
During this period, I knew I was in a battle for my career and
health. At times I wondered what I, as the spiritual leader, should
do to preserve the fabric of my church. At other times I experienced
physical and emotional exhaustion. There were times when I
questioned my confidence as a minister. I was on overdrive. At times
part of me wondered if the fight was worth it. At times I had the
desire to share with an experienced church professional what I was
experiencing, and to share ideas about which steps might be taken.
As a minister, I wondered if there was any professional assistance
available, along with the assistance being given to me by my
Presbytery executive, the Presbytery Stated Clerk, and the Committee
on Ministry.
Sometime during this process, my Presbytery Executive reminded me of
the Response program, and ultimately I connected with Clergy
Consultation Services, under the direction of the Rev. Robert Clark.
I was and still am grateful for the referral to Clergy Consultation
Services.
Specifically, my consultant, the Rev. Robert Clark, gave me
individual, spiritual, and practical support. Bob Clark
empathetically listened to each ministerial challenge I faced. He
understood exactly what I was talking about. Bob provided me with a
professional 'safety zone' that clergy often feel absent. Because he
is an ordained clergy and has been in the trenches, we spoke the
same language, and could address the issues from the same vantage.
Bob has been on the front lines of ministry, and knows what the
church is all about.
To go to a secular, non-clergy, medical counselor less experienced
in the ways of the church would have been counterproductive. I was
in need of what I believe you call preventive medicine. I needed to
consult with an ordained professional who knew the ropes and whom I
could speak to as one experienced colleague to another.
The practical suggestions Clergy Consultation Services (especially
Bob Clark) offered when it came to the 'politics' of my situation
were tremendously helpful. For example, Bob's deep rooted experience
in the church enabled him to share ideas and formulate strategies
for such issues as: deciding what kind of a letter to send to the
congregation after members had gotten an anonymous letter from the
'clergy killer group'. He helped me to decide on tactics for a
congregational meeting in which the disruptive group intended to
seriously undermine the elder nominating process. Yes, he helped my
self-esteem. He helped to keep me whole. Bob Clark helped
tremendously throughout this process.
PREVENTATIVE
CARE
Until my retirement last
month, I served for twenty-nine years as the Reformed Church in
America's Director of Ministry and Personnel Services. In that
capacity, I had overall responsibility for clergy support, including
the work of our Board of Pensions and its insurance programs. Some
years ago we contracted with the Institutes of Religion and Health
for a new program called "Clergy Consultation Service."
Our purpose was to have in place a resource available to ministers
and their families which might offer early intervention to problems
before they got worse. We were seeing to many situations which ended
up being both expensive to our insurance programs, but even more
important, of high cost in human and organizational terms.
Stress-producing situations within families, in the churches, and
between spouses, frequently eventuated in medical claims or wrecked
pastoral relationships. Further, we were aware that many families in
ministry were reluctant to share problems within the larger church
family, and therefore a confidential external service such as CCS
offered could probably serve us well. The program met and exceeded
our expectations, and we have renewed our contract with enthusiasm
each year.
As you probably know, Bob Clark was the pioneer in offering this
within the church system. He was in charge of it at the Institutes
until very recently when he left to form his own organization, and
over the years he and his colleagues served us very well indeed.
It was never difficult to justify the cost of this service in terms
of preventative care. I am convinced that it saved us
thousands--indeed, tens of thousands--more than we ever spent. The
human support felt by those who knew they could call was not
possible to calculate in dollars, but was expressed verbally many
times. I do know that CCS counselors probably prevented at least two
suicide attempts and perhaps more, and since our life insurance
coverage extends to self-destruction, a single case not incurred,
paid for the service for nearly five years.
CLERGY
BURN-OUT
I commend to all, who have
responsibility for the care of clergy and their families, the very
special ministry of the Rev. Robert H. Clark. He has proven
expertise in offering resources to assist clergy and their
dependents in dealing with their unique emotional, physical, and
spiritual needs.
In my 50 years in ministry, both as Pastor of large congregations,
and as an Adjunct Professor in the Drew Theological School where I
serve also as a Trustee, I am deeply aware of the need clergy and
their families have for caring support. I believe that so-called
"clergy burn-out" might be less likely to occur if
denominational agencies and leadership provided more easily
accessible resources for support.
In my opinion Robert Clark through the Kairos Institute and Penny
Vennard through The Center for Exceptional Families offer the
support and guidance which may be helpful. I encourage you to
consider their ministry among us.
Dr. Robert Drew Simpson
Minister,The United Methodist Church
|
