By Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen
(Article first appeared in the October 6, 2003 issue of the Christian
Courier.)
When the Christian Reformed Church North America (CRCNA) was awarded
a Lilly Endowment grant of nearly $2 million in September 2002,
the funding provided the momentum for an initiative with the potential
to transform local churches and their pastors through "Sustaining
Pastoral Excellence." The program promotes and teaches pastoral
excellence through the establishment of mentoring relationships,
peer learning opportunities, accountability groups, and various
regional continuing education opportunities.
Increasing Complexity
The increasing complexity of a pastor's role today has made programs
such as this one more important than in the past. "Ministry
is more and more complicated today, and thus more demanding,"
says Rev. Ron Peterson, Administrator of the Pastoral Residency
Program at Church of the Servant, a Christian Reformed congregation
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Rev. Henry Gunnink of Kanata Community CRC, Kanata, Ontario, agrees.
"Churches are expecting more today," says Gunnink. "It
seems a number of years ago the expectations were more pulpit-centered.
You taught catechism and made the visits. Today the expectations
are more toward training. You are expected to administer. You are
expected to be innovative and creative, and there's the expectation
that you're going to make the church grow."
With the increasing complexity of the job comes higher levels
of stress and even career burnout for pastors. One of the goals
of Sustaining Pastoral Excellence is to provide resources to local
pastors and churches, nurturing healthy pastors-and therefore healthier,
stronger congregations-throughout the denomination.
Learning from Each Other
Seminary simply cannot prepare pastors for everything they will
face in their ministry, and there is little doubt that healthy pastors
are those who keep on learning throughout their lifetimes. "When
we came out of seminary, we had some basic tools but no experience,"
says Rev. Henry Wildeboer, Regional Director for Home Missions for
Central and Eastern Canada.
For this reason, Sustaining Pastoral Excellence provides funding
for peer learning groups made up of local pastors who meet regularly
for formal or informal education and accountability. "The peer
learning that the Lilly Endowment grant has made possible is a very
good thing because it provides pastors a forum where they learn
from each other and especially benefit from each other's journey
and experiences," says Wildeboer, who works with established
churches to encourage such initiatives. "The peer learning
groups I am part of are made up of about eight pastors and meet
monthly for about three or four hours. We have a retreat at the
beginning of the year in which we set some goals. We structure various
reading assignments and plan ministry with mutual accountability."
Continuing Education
Continuing education opportunities are structured differently,
Wildeboer explains. "Some meet only short-term for one or two
retreats to cover particular topics, for which the Lilly Endowment
provides crucial funding. The grants assist with costs of materials,
speakers, the retreat and some travel. They are making possible
what otherwise would not be available to many pastors. This is a
great thing."
As a regional pastor for Christian Reformed Churches in Classis
Eastern Canada, one of Rev. Henry Gunnink's responsibilities has
been to encourage pastoral support within the congregations in his
region. "When I saw the information come out about Sustaining
Pastoral Excellence, I took it upon myself to circulate the brochure
among my colleagues, and the feedback was good."
Gunnink and a group of local pastors worked with an Ottawa,
Ontario, based Christian counseling group to develop a proposal
for Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, and their proposed educational
program has received crucial funding thanks to the Lilly Endowment
grant.
"The counselors will cover 12 different topics for our group,
based on a survey that identified the needs of these pastors and
their spouses," says Gunnink. "From September to May,
we will meet about every six weeks to attend sessions led by professional
counselors, dealing with topics such as marriage counseling, pastoral
pain, and prayer and the Holy Spirit-among others."
Congregational Support
Pastors can contribute much to the health of their ministry, but
they cannot do it alone. Pastors and churches need to work together
to develop a healthy ministry, says Gunnink. "There need to
be good relationships, acceptance and communication in which everyone
sees each other as part of the body of Christ, each with his or
her unique gifts from God. There needs to be evaluation, speaking
the truth in love and acceptance. Pastors need encouragement for
training, and identification of areas where improvement may be needed."
Churches should encourage their pastors to take advantage of continuing
education opportunities-whether formal or informal, says Wildeboer.
"Pastors should be encouraged to take a course, even informally
via the Web or in seminary or university settings. Even setting
aside time for good reading or guided reading can work well. Sabbaticals
for pastors serving a congregation six years or longer are healthy
for pastor and church. These could be six months or they could even
be a two- or three-month period set aside with a specific focus
on training in a particular area."
Accountability for pastors is also a shared pastoral-congregational
responsibility, says Rev. Ron Peterson. "Pastors should have
two or three people whom they and the congregation respect to meet
with periodically for support, to pray together and assess how things
are going," Peterson says. "Honesty, confidentiality,
and trust are key here."
A Valuable Resource
Peterson values the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) program
because it offers resources to pastors and congregations that simply
would not be available in the CRC. "SPE provides resources
that pastors and churches might not otherwise see or seek and the
opportunities and funds to get pastors together to think, talk,
pray, be still and learn," Peterson says.
"Resources like SPE are all for the good," concludes
Peterson. "Healthy pastors cannot be lone rangers; ministry
needs collaboration, networking, mutual support, encouragement and
learning."
"The outcomes will bear long-lasting fruit for the Christian
Reformed Church and its local congregations," says Wildeboer.
"I think we will see longer-term pastorates, healthier pastors
and happier churches as a result of this initiative," he says.
