by Linda R. Wolf Jones, M.Div., D.S.W.

Introduction

As I set out to write this report, I quickly became aware that there are a plethora of self-care books on the market. A number of them even deal specifically with clergy self-care. Why produce another report? What would differentiate it from all the others? What would make it most useful—particularly to members of the clergy (regardless of denomination or gender), but also to their professional colleagues, their families and their friends?

Perhaps it would be helpful to set forth my personal introduction to the issue of clergy self-care (or the lack thereof) and the perspective that I have tried to capture for readers in the chapters that follow. Shortly after I began to attend church on a regular basis—and long before I had any thought of entering seminary to pursue ordination—I was asked if I might consider working with several West African clergy in Washington, DC for whom English was a third language. The expressed need was for a volunteer tutor who could help them with their everyday and liturgical English skills and who would be willing to do it without payment. Given everybody's time constraints, it was also clear that the bulk of these English lessons would have to take place on weekday evenings.

As we sat with our Bibles, our prayer books, and our cups of tea, the tutoring sessions soon developed into friendships; the topics covered in our conversational English practice expanded to include many of the daily events of work and church; and I began to see and to understand the pressures of clerical life. I summed up my volunteer work in those years with the phrase: "Who cares for the caretaker?"

Fast forward to 2008. I had graduated from seminary and seen (and heard) a lot more of clergy life in the intervening years. When the Alban Institute asked me if I would be interested in developing a report on the topic of clergy self-care, I agreed to give it a try. You are holding the results in your hand: a practical handbook that does not pretend to be original in its discussion of the need for clergy self-care, but in which I have attempted to distill some of the ideas, approaches, and best practices of the many books on the market that address that need. I readily acknowledge the contributions of those authors to my understanding of the topic of self-care and recommend their books for areas in which you might want to delve deeper.

The Alban Institute's interest in clergy self-care has also been ongoing, including multiple publications dealing with the topic. In June 2008, Alban organized and conducted a two-day invitational roundtable for clergy and other church leaders with an interest and expertise in self-care issues, calling it simply "A Conversation about Caring for Congregational Leaders and Their Families." Participants were open and honest in their contributions. Many of the topics and ideas that were raised and discussed during that meeting have been useful in expanding my own understanding and have found their way into this report. References to "the Roundtable" or "a Roundtable participant" reflect statements made as part of the June 2008 "Conversation" discussions.

The current handbook has been written with several audiences in mind. It has been written primarily for clergy who know (or who ought to know) that they are not doing everything that they should be doing to care for themselves on a regular basis. It is written for clergy who think that everything is just fine in their lives, but who wonder if there's any facet of basic well-being that they're missing. It is written, finally, for the spouses and partners, family members, clergy colleagues and congregational leaders who see issues on the horizon or problems already arrived in the life of a clergy person or in their own life as a result of that affiliation.

Finally, my intention in writing the book is to speak directly to a felt or impending need in a simple, easy-to-grasp way. I have not included in-depth psychological discussions, extensive Scriptural interpretations, or complex diagrams based on family systems therapy, although the book does touch on some of those areas in the following chapters. For those who are seeking to pursue those topics in-depth, there are other books on the market (as I have noted above), written by persons far more qualified in those areas than I would be.

Here you will find a discussion of four major areas in a clergy person's life for which wellness is both critical and too often elusive: the emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual components of his or her overall well-being. The discussions that follow are, in large part, a synthesis of ideas and practices that are already out there. Collected into a single report, the intention is to provide focus, direction, and help with negotiating the shoals of clergy life: staying healthy, recognizing when a problem exists and needs to be addressed, preventing small problems from growing into major ones, and finding ways to minister with newfound patience, joy and enthusiasm for pastoral duties and life in general.

Meditation

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you....Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (John 14:27)

Dedication

Dedicated to the late Anne Van Dusen, whose care and concern for the well-being of congregational leaders led to the 2008 "Conversation about Caring for Congregational Leaders and Their Families" and this special report.

Podcast

Check out the Congregational Resource Guide's interview with author Linda Wolf Jones in this Clergy Self-Care Podcast!