Rev. Robert Smith came to the ministry as a second career—sort of. He was a minister in the United States during the 1980s, and then briefly in the 1990s when he came to Canada. Soon after he put his collar aside, went back to school, and got a job elsewhere. After several years of life in the secular world, his call was reawakened when, while working in downtown Victoria, he “realized the pains and needs of the inner – city.”
“I felt the only way I could address that was to go back into the church and encourage the church to work for people living on the edges,” Smith said. “I felt my call back into ministry while working for 7 – Eleven.”
Smith was ordained in 2007 as a minister in the United Church, where he was “settled”—or placed—in his first charge. The process is meant to match a church’s needs with a new minister’s skills and gifts. Unfortunately, Smith’s settlement charge wasn’t a good fit, and it wasn’t long before he started to feel down.
“The biggest challenge is the loneliness. My first parish was on the coast of B.C., about six hours from the nearest centre. So there’s the physical loneliness, but there’s also the loneliness of what we do. Our job is a very different job. We can’t always talk with someone of the struggles we have. You can’t always go to a friend. For the first four years of ministry, we’re asking, who am I as a minister and what does that term mean?”
Smith eventually took a course through the Centre for Clergy Care and Congregational Health in 2008, and left his settlement charge the same year. He soon ended up at Knox United, Prince George, B.C., where he is today.
“I was still grappling with, what is my job and how do I do that job well? The other ministers where I am now have been here for a while, so they’re not asking those identity questions. So I still felt fairly lonely even though I was in the city. So at Starting Well, I had the chance to explore those identity questions. Who am I and what am I becoming? I had been running a multi – million dollar 7 – Eleven. My identity was still in the business management phase. So letting go of who I was and embracing who I am as a minister was important.”
The Starting Well program, offered through the Centre, is the first in a series of programs and events tailored to different stages of ministry. It is meant for those who have been ordained or commissioned within the past three years. Participants meet four or five days each year, for three years, and look at their roles as leaders, finding balance in ministry, and exploring the context of ministry. And though the Centre is based at Knox College, Toronto, workshops and seminars are offered across the country.
“I get excited about Starting Well, because the first five years of ministry will often characterize the rest of your ministry,” said Rev. Dr. Andrew Irvine, a Presbyterian, director of the Centre, and also director of the Doctor of Ministry program at the Toronto School of Theology.
“Each stage of life and ministry presents a different set and series of issues to deal with. Who we are as individuals is primary to who we are as ministers. For many clergy, there’s little being done to take care of that.”
Established in 2006, and sponsored by Emmanuel College and Knox College, the Centre was created following the release of a study of Irvine’s entitled, Clergy Well – Being: Seeking Wholeness with Integrity. The results were disturbing. As referenced in the Record’s April 2006 issue, “77 per cent of the surveyed clergy felt they were more like a CEO than a pastor; 18 percent could not identify a close friend in church or their community; and 80 percent felt guilty if caught taking time off during the week even though most work a 50 – hour week.”
At the same time as the report’s release, colleges of the Toronto School of Theology were being asked for follow – up support by their alumni.
“Clergy are functioning in a model of ministry from the last century, and don’t know where they fit in modern society,” said Irvine, who has been a minister for 25 years, and whose father was a minister for 55 years. “For a minister 50 years ago, their role was precise. Today, in postmodern society, we’re asking, does the church fit at all? And there are questions around that.”
For Smith, discovering that many ministers have the same thoughts and feelings that he had was a huge encouragement.
“It was very helpful in meeting with other people, to realize that I wasn’t alone in my own struggles,” said Smith. “Now I’ve gone through the whole [Starting Well] program, all three years, and I continue to be amazed, no matter what denomination we serve, or if we’re in the inner – city, or a rural congregation, that a lot of those same questions are there for us. So it really is quite helpful for us to realize our questions are not unique and we’re not alone in our struggles. The power of it is connecting with others.”
The Centre’s Take Care program focuses on the middle years of ministry, when rejuvenation, revision and reflection are often necessary. It deals with topics such as mid – life challenges, family care, self care, and call transitions.
Rev. Heather Anderson, a Lutheran minister currently working as chaplain at the Luther Special Care Home in Saskatoon, is at this stage. A minister for 15 years, and in her mid – 40s, Anderson came to the Clergy Care Centre in 2010 to learn about balancing priorities—something she said ministers don’t do very well.
“Your personal life has to be first and ministry second,” she said, noting it was one of the lines Irvine delivered that has stuck with her. “Pastors tend to switch that around sometimes. These are things I struggle with, and most pastors I know do, too. We define ourselves by our occupation very often, and pastors are no different than anyone else. If we are going to truly care for people, we have to care for ourselves.”
There’s often a disconnect between clergy and their own spiritual roots, Irvine said, due to “rampant busy – ness and the needs of the church.”
Unfortunately, for many congregations, the needs of the minister often fall below the radar.
“I think congregations and institutions are getting better at it, but they have a ways to go yet,” said Anderson, noting that small congregations are often struggling with so many other issues that the health of the minister gets overlooked. “I think people need to be educated on what clergy really do; we’re not just there on Sunday.”
Irvine said the mid – career program is a popular one, noting that the sessions “provide a safe space” to explore common issues.
“People are getting tired and not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “Is this all there is? How do I revitalize my ministry?”
The Centre’s ecumenical make – up is a particular strength of the program, as problems and challenges are common throughout the Church, regardless of where membership lies. Taking part in workshops with people from other denominations also helps ministers open up about how they really feel.
“People are looking for a safe space to dialogue,” said Irvine. “A minister is not going to speak to their session about it. They’re not going to raise it in presbytery. They’re not going to go with someone to their bishop. They’re not going to go to colleagues because it will get back to others. And they’re often not going to go to their partner. But they come to the five – day event, and within 24 hours, they feel free to open up and talk.”
The final stage is Ending Well: Making the Most of Retirement—a three – day event that addresses the emotional, psychological and spiritual work needed to transition into retirement from active ministry.
“Were looking at identity issues,” said Irvine. “So off comes the collar, who are you? How do you fit back into a community of faith? Not as Rev. Smith, but as Joe.”
Rev. Nan St. Louis was ordained in 1974. She’s currently looking at retirement and found the course very helpful. As minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Mount Forest, and Knox, Conn, Ont., she realizes she likely won’t want to carry the load of a congregation after retirement, but wants to explore some other ways she can remain useful to a church community. Her husband attended with her.
“We were able to talk together about it. We hadn’t done that, and it gave us a structure of things to help us about instead of going around in circles.”
As a minister for more than three decades, St. Louis has seen a lot. During her ministry career, however, there have been a few things she has seen as her greatest challenges.
“Burn – out is a huge thing,” she said. “I’ve been on the edge of burnout a few times, but I pulled back and regrouped and took the time I needed to not go over the edge.
“Being able to re – focus is important. When you start your ministry, you have certain hopes and dreams. Then you get into the middle of it, and the expectations of what you can accomplish change as reality sets in. Now I’m thinking about how I have two or three years left, and what do I need to accomplish? What can I do afterwards to support people in the church? So there is always a re – focusing that needs to go on.”
Though St. Louis found the Centre to be helpful, she has some ideas of some other ways it can aid the church’s ministers.
“I’m from the age in which the training that I received was to be the shepherd of the sheep. But there’s a real shift in the way the church needs to function; there is a need for ministers to give leadership, but it’s also about empowering the laity. They’re not sheep. It’s a whole different psychology.
“[When I was there,] these words were not mentioned at Knox College—discipleship, evangelism. So I think the Centre may be helpful in picking up where the church needs to be. It would be nice to pull together some people who can speak about the trends and the challenges. People from out in the field who can give us some pointers.”
“The health of the clergy is vital to the health of the congregation,” said Irvine, noting that secure, happy ministers feel free to release others to share in ministry. “The connections are vital, and we have the opportunity to make it work.”
