5 REASONS YOU CARE ABOUT HEALTHY CLERGY & WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

YOU ARE A PERSON WHO CARES ABOUT CLERGY

You care about clergy because:

1. You believe that God calls clergy to ministry.
   1. A divine source sparked their choice of ministry.
2. You understand the demanding nature of the ministry.
   1. Both the physical and emotional demands of ministry take their cumulative toll.
3. You care about your colleagues in ministry.
   1. They are very specific neighbors that need signs of compassion from time to time.
4. You know that Healthy Clergy Make Healthy Congregations.
   1. When a clergy is healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually, they are more likely to shape healthy congregation.
5. You see how healthy congregations contribute to a better world.
   1. Consider what it would be like if all the compassion and support regularly supplied by the congregations across the land suddenly disappeared.

Ways You can contribute to the health of clergy.

1. Call a clergy colleague, invite him or her to lunch, ask them to tell you about his or her ministry and then listen.
2. Plan to attend the Presbytery Pastoral Care Network’s annual conference in Fort Worth, Tx , Oct. 24-27, 2014  www.pastoralcarenetwork.org. (Open to clergy or lay of any denomination who care about the health of clergy. Check out website for more information.)
3. Sign up for the PPCN newsletter (free on request) and continue to get regular practical suggestions on clergy health. Issued about five times a year with suggestions for clergy, churches, and judicatories.
4. Subscribe to my blog, www.smccutchan.com, for more ideas about how the church and clergy can contribute to keeping clergy healthy. Send me questions and comments and I will try to respond.
5. Identify three clergy of different churches and pray for them and their ministry for 30 days in a row. (If you miss a day, add two days at the end.)
   1. It’s a discipline from which both you and the clergy will benefit.
6. (Bonus) Laughter is good for the soul. Complete this sentence three times and find a colleague to share it with. “Clergy must be crazy if they . . .”
   1. Go ahead, have a little fun, enjoy some laughter, and know that God gave us a sense of humor to be an antidote to the stresses of life.