Go out into the world...

I will be away for two weeks. My wife and I are taking a two week trip with our 13 year old grandson to Glacier and Yellowstone Park. It is one of our ways in taking care of ourselves. I hope you will do the same.

I will be at the Presbyterian Writers’ Conference this week, so I probably will not be doing a lot of blogging about the care of pastors. Yet, in some ways, the two are connected. Almost all the writing that I do is connected with care of clergy. Two fiction projects, one a novel and the other a series of short stories, are all connected with the lives of pastors. I think that the profession of being a pastor is facing a major challenge. The recent sexual scandals will exacerbate the lack of respect that the society has increasingly given to our profession. My hope is that some good fictional descriptions of the life of pastors can counter the negative images and reveal both the challenge and the satisfaction of our calling.

In addition, I am working on some stand up comedy routines about some of our experiences as pastors. My assumption is that we need to draw upon the healing properties of humor as we face the challenges before us. Sometimes a good laugh can help us gain some perspective.

Writing has always been good therapy for me. As I write, I discover deeper understandings and new insights. I look forward to the conference and gaining new insights.

I will be away for most of this week at the planning conference for the Presbytery Pastoral Care Network. We will be planning the conference for this October. For you who read this blog and therefore are interested in the work we do, I want to alert you to the dates and place of this conference. Here is what we have on our web page.

October 25-29

San Francisco Seminary

Plan now to attend the 11th annual conference of the Presbytery Pastoral Care Network. Maybe you can even build in a few days of vacation on either side of the conference and explore the wonders of San Francisco .

Whether you are an individual pastor concerned with how to maintain a rich, creative balance in your ministry; have a responsibility for helping prospective members prepare for the ministry; or are a member of a presbytery committee charged with care of pastors, plan to attend. Arrangements are underway for Keynote Speakers and Workshops on the theme of Coaching, Mentoring and Spiritual Direction. This is an opportunity to share with colleagues who have the same interest and participate in invigorating workshops that will increase your skills

If you might consider attending and have some questions, let me know. After next week I should have some good information.

Second Session:

9:00: Prayer and Explanation of Use of Scripture.

9:10:Building on work of Session 1. Step 3: Take one question at a time from Session 1. Allow for a time of meditative prayer and ask each member to consider what biblical story, hymn, or liturgical event in the worship of the church comes to mind when they are reflecting on this faith question. It is not important that the elders or leaders understand the connection but simply identify what comes to their minds. They are invited to trust that God brought it to their minds for a reason.

In the total group, they are invited to share results of their personal reflection and make a list of the Biblical stories, Hymns, etc. that have came to mind.

9:45: Step 4: Invite the whole group to play with some of the biblical stories or liturgical acts identified and seek out possible connections.
Make analogical connections: Don’t worry about being precise.
Identify possible ways that God is speaking to your church through this issue.

10:10: Break
10:20: Step 5:
Review rules of response for creativity.
When a person makes a suggestion, others respond first with what they liked about the idea?
Then any concerns that occur are expressed are concerns for the entire group to address?
Share list of Elder gifts and Congregational underused gifts with Elders. (Have copies)

In small groups, brainstorm how such gifts and other gifts in the congregation of which you are aware might be combined to respond to the challenge God is placing before your church at this time.

Share the results of brainstorming.

10:45: Step 6:
Pick one or two challenges that seem most easy to address.
Name 3 first steps with dates and responsibilities to take.
Agree to report back to session on progress.

Revisit additional challenges named in two months and repeat action steps.

11:15 Closing Scripture and Prayer

Here is another exercise by which you can take the pulse of your ministry. It is not something that you do continuously but occasionally it may have value.

Take some time to sit quietly and calm yourself. When you have quieted yourself, take a pad of paper and begin to list some of the positive things that have happened in your ministry from the beginning until now. Now, make the faith assumption that God has been part of that ministry. Look for patterns in what you can affirm as positive incidents in your career history. Write some of those possibilities down so that you can see them and reflect on them.

Now note some of the more difficult moments in your ministry. If God “works for good with those who love him and are called according to his purpose,” look for redemptive results that have occurred because God was with you during those difficult times. None of this is to say that God caused such negative experiences for a purpose. It is simply to say that God can work redemptively even in the difficult moments. What have you learned, how have you grown, what are redeemable possibilities as a result of such experiences.

Write some of those down and combine them with that which you have gleaned from the positive moments. What does this suggest about your future directions. Write out some possibilities. Put them aside and then return to them at least a week later and see how that speaks to your future. Share them with a friend and get their reaction as well. Allow God to speak to you through the Bible, prayer, community, and time.