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Nurturing the health of the Body of Christ through
caring for its pastors.
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Visit our Website
to learn more about PPCN
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Join these
Judicatories
Visit
the Website
for details on how to
join.
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PPCN
Officers:
President:
Dan Corll
Vice
President: Julie Johnson
Palo
Duro
Secretary:
Carol Allen
Chicago
Editor:
Stephen McCutchan
Salem
Members
At Large:
Brenda
Jarvis, Detroit
Joe
Sandifer,Greater Atlanta
Denominational
Advisors:
Marcia
Meyers,
Helen
Locklear
Board of Pensions
Barbara
Kranendonk,
Career
& Personal Counseling Center, FLorida
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Gleanings
from our 9th Annual Conference
Helping
Presbyteries Care for Clergy: Shifting from Crisis Management to Prevention
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It Takes A Village to
Develop Healthy Pastors
At our recent PPCN Conference a number of conversations
among COM representatives, presbytery staff members, and pastoral care givers
underscored the current need within the PCUSA for a more systematic
approach to creating healthy ministers and helping pastors deal with
the leadership challenges that face our denomination in the 21st
century. We were concerned about the disconnect between
presbyteries and seminaries in the process of preparing ministers to
serve churches in these changing times. Presbytery CPMs need to
work with our seminaries to strengthen the process of vocational
discernment and help potential inquirers understand that most of the
calls open for ministers in the PCUSA today are with small membership
churches who cannot afford full-time pastors. We affirmed the
value of more interpersonal skill development and efforts to strengthen
emotional intelligence among ministers in the seminary curriculum and
continuing education programs. We envisioned ways that
presbytery COMs and seminaries could help ministers manage conflicts in
their congregations in healthy ways and to encourage ministers to build
the supportive relationships needed to sustain themselves spiritually,
emotionally, and professionally. One concluding
recommendation was that the PPCN should encourage the Vocation Office
of the General Assembly to hold a consultation among presbytery leaders,
pastoral care givers, and seminary faculty to address these concerns
and find ways to better prepare and support ministers for the
vocational challenges that now confront the PCUSA.
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"Creating
Trust Among Clergy in Divisive Times in the Church"
led
by Don McDonald and Julie Johnson
Divisive times are inevitable in the life of the church and its clergy.
If trusting relationships are not cultivated before such conflicts
occur, the effectiveness and health of the clergy family is at great
risk. A trusting relationship is a friendship. Trusted relationships
have healthy boundaries that are often tested.
Some of the suggestions for COM's, and
Presbytery Staff that emerged from the seminar were:
1. Get to know your clergy as pastors and
persons.
2. Ask how you can help the pastor in ways
outside tri-annual visits and other prescribed meetings.
3. Speak the truth in love about the church and
clergy.
4. Encourage self-care by organizing Sabbath time for clergy
and inform sessions about this necessity along with a fair salary for
their pastor.
5. Help clergy be aware of emotional intelligence as a tool
for better understanding of themselves and church members.
6. Teach COM's and all those working with churches and
pastors systemic family theory as it applies to the church and its
servant leaders.
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Spiritual
Care is Essential
by
Carol Allen
Sabbath is at the heart of spiritual
care. Times for personal reflection were interspersed throughout each
day as a preface to the workshops, evoked by the music of composer and
singer David Bailey and meditations and prayers by Steve McCutchan on
their CD "A Deep Well for the Pastor." Midway through our
meeting, two small group experiences were offered that centered on the
Ignatian spiritual practice of Examen.
To promote the self-care of ministers, it was
suggested that presbyteries might encourage:
1. Pastoral Nominating Committees to
include provision for periodic Sabbaticals in pastoral calls, and
require thoughtful planning of study leaves, retreats, and vacations.
2. Ministers make use of allotted times away and
include Sabbath experiences.
3. Congregations and Presbyteries to offer
newsletter articles about how minister, members, and educators plan
their times away and benefit from the gift of Sabbath.
4. The practice of spiritual direction/companionship
and refer people to Spiritual Directors International.com This site
includes a directory for locating a spiritual director in communities
around the U.S. and beyond.
More
gleanings in future issues
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Two
Events
NATIONAL
PASTOR'S SABBATH
April 17-20,
2009
Sawgrass Marriott Resort and Spa
in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (new location confirmed)
A time of rest and relaxation, of celebration and worship, of spiritual
growth and renewal.
Keynote by Walter Brueggemann. Co-sponsored by national agencies
of the PCUSA.
THE
BIG TENT
June
11-13, 2009
Hyatt
Regency Downtown, Atlanta, Georgia
Come, join the Presbyterian family for the Big Tent Event - "and
the Word became flesh . . . "
This event joins 10 PCUSA conferences for common worship, celebrations,
meals, exhibits, and a common workshop time, as well as focused time
around particular ministries. Partner conferences include:
Healthy
Ministry Conference (CPM/COM)
National
Elders Conference
New Immigrant
Groups Consultation
Presbyterian
Communicators Network
PHEWA/Social
Justice Biennial Conference
Presbyterian
Multicultural Conference
Presbyterian
Peacemaking Conference
Evangelism and
Church Growth Conference
Racial Ethnic
Convocation
Stewardship
Conference
For further
information: http://www.pcusa.org/bigtent/.
Registration will be open in January.
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Resource
for Pastors
This
CD, based on music by david m. bailey and meditations by Stephen
McCutchan, is offered as a resource to the pastor. Through a series of
reflections and songs, the pastor is invited to renew his sense of
God's call and experience the power of God's spirit energizing his or
her ministry.
The cost of
the CD is $10.
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Presbyterian
Writers' Conference
Sponsored
by Presbyterian Writers Guild and Cecil Murphey
April
23-24, 2009
Harrington Center, Columbia
Seminary ~ Decatur, GA
Make this your big step to becoming a published author.
Speak with a literary agent.
Learn about the needs and opportunities in Presbyterian publications.
Get the answers and direction you need from a professional staff.
Conference
Faculty
Dr. Cecil Murphey, Bestselling Author/Speaker/Teacher
www.themanbehindthewords.com
Author or co-author of more than 100 books, including
the NY Times bestseller 90 Minutes in Heaven.
Vince Patton, Westminster John Knox Press
www.ppcbooks.com
Rev. Jerry Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service
www.pcusa.org
Rev. James Clinefelter, Freelance Writer
Deidre Knight/The Knight Agency, Literary Agent
www.knightagency.net
Dr. H. Michael Brewer, Pastor/Writer/Teacher
www.hmichaelbrewer.homestead.com
Mitali Perkins, Young Adult Novelist
www.mitaliperkins.com
Patrick Borders, Freelance Writer/Ghostwriter
www.patrickborders.com
Twila Belk, Writer/Speaker/Publicist
www.gottatellsomebody.com
Conference
Fee:
$200 ~ Presbyterian Writers Guild members will
receive a 10% discount.
Lodging:
A limited number of rooms are available at Harrington Center for early
registrants. There are also nearby hotels.
Meals:
Meals are available at the campus cafeteria
for less than $20 per day.
Registration:
Contact Columbia Seminary to register.
http://www.ctsnet.edu/LL/Events.aspx
(When at the online site, scroll down to April 23.)
(404) 687-4578
Hours:
Conference begins with registration at 8 a.m. on Thursday, 4/23.
Conference ends at 5 p.m. Friday, 4/24.
Questions:
Contact Rev. Steve McCutchan, steve@smccutchan.com or
Twila Belk, www.gottatellsomebody.com
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