HEALTHY CLERGY MAKE HEALTHY CONGREGATIONS. That is the message I would like see infuse our congregations across our denomination. It is not a case of coddling clergy. They are called to be servants of God and if the biblical story is our guide, this often requires great sacrifice. However, in the process they, like all humans, exercise their gifts better if those they are called to serve also respond to their ministry in a healthy manner. Sometimes that requires nurture like the widow offered Elijah and Peter’s mother-in-law offered Jesus and the disciples. Sometimes that requires corrective advice as Jethro offered Moses. At other times it responds to their physical needs as the women did for Jesus. Sometimes it comes in the form of spiritual challenges as Cornelius the Gentile did for Peter. The point is that none of us are spiritual superheroes that are independent of the community we serve. Paul’s instructions, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” includes the clergy as well.
The committee on ministry (COM) within the Presbyterian Church, and other similar committees in other denominations, have the charge of caring for the clergy. However, they frequently find themselves so busy responding to crisis that they have little time or energy for doing the preventative care that can prevent such crisis from occurring. I want to suggest a strategy where the COM can develop a plan that would take place over a couple of years whereby a culture of mutual caring between clergy and congregations might be strengthened. It is based on the six dimensions of clergy health that I have spelled out in the Presbytery Pastoral Care Network (PPCN) ToolBox. You can access that by going to their web page, www.pastoralcarenetwork.org .While the ToolBox addresses many dimensions of the care of clergy, I want to focus on what congregations can do and how the COM can raise that awareness among the congregations.
Next week and beyond, we will look at how congregations can care for a clergy’s physical, emotional, family, financial, spiritual, and vocational health. By doing so, they both avoid the costly price of congregational upset but they also develop spiritually as a congregation.
