The Rev. Greg Brown on Clergy Case-conference Groups

Before You Burn Out!
Clergy Case-conference Groups

It may come as a surprise (or not) that clergy are not very good at taking care of themselves. Whether for parish clergy or chaplains in institutions, self-care often suffers in the ministry of serving others. As a result, clergy are vulnerable not only to exhaustion and burn-out but, perhaps more insidiously, ineffectiveness as religious leaders.

I encountered the latter several years ago while serving as a team member of the Conflict Transformation Taskforce of the Baltimore/Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. It became obvious to me that many of the parish conflict situations we faced grew out of clergy ineffectiveness. This confirmed previous collaboration with the late Dr. Edwin Friedman (author of Generation to Generation – a systems approach to local congregations) which points to the fact that when clergy become anxious, depressed, or distracted, the ripple effects of their emotional state can be felt throughout the community they serve.

My observations led me to initiate clergy case conference groups. These groups were modeled after peer supervisory meetings among pastoral counselors — but modified to be oriented toward parish clergy. I discovered that clergy (at least the non-defensive ones) were hungry for such peer interaction. Although they usually function within some kind of community, and even work closely with other colleagues in larger churches (for pastors) or institutions (for chaplains), clergy for the most part operate in isolation from each other. For whatever reason, clergy share very little with each other even within multiple staff situations, especially when things are not going well. And for clergy who work in solo contexts (rural churches or small institutions) the isolation can be even greater. Yes, there are those occasional cluster or district gatherings, but little real sharing happens there. As a result these faith leaders are left to their own devices or to occasional skills workshops.

The case conference model counters such isolation. Its success proves that clergy can work together safely and confidentially to enhance their self-awareness, and their relational and leadership skills through a very hands-on, collaborative, and supportive small-group process.

In one such group, for example, a clergywoman shared her experience of being intimidated by a “bully” couple in her church. She feared confrontation, yet noted that the entire congregation was pulling back and morale was dropping. She knew she had to do something. With the encouragement of the group and some rehearsed interchanges, she began setting better boundaries with the couple and holding firm. The couple eventually left the church and, like the munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz,” suddenly all of the congregants began coming out of their hiding places and taking charge again.

I recently morphed these in-person groups into teleconferencing groups, thus making this casework accessible throughout North America (and beyond). The use of simple phone bridge lines and PIN’s has allowed pastors and chaplains across the country to connect with each other. In some cases rural conferences and clusters of chaplains are considering this model as an efficient means of providing peer supervision. One clergyperson from Alaska recently wrote me, “We have used teleconferencing for Presbytery and Diocesan business for many years in ways folks outside (of Alaska) think impossible or undesirable (and it) works very, very well – much more efficient and productive… (and) one of the greatest benefits: the technology does not allow two people to talk at once.” Leave it to the Alaskans to be ahead of the curve!

As the challenges to pastors and chaplains mount in our increasingly anxious culture, perhaps clergy case teleconferencing can be an effective and supportive means of leadership skill enhancement and an antidote to clergy burn-out.