Description of the Project

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[33 Years]

TRIANGLE PASTORAL COUNSELING PROJECT TO SUSTAIN CLERGY EXCELLENCE IS FUNDED BY THE LILLY ENDOWMENT

In 2002 the Lilly Endowment initiated the program Sustaining Pastoral Excellence that seeks “to focus attention and energy on maintaining the high caliber of many of the country’s pastoral leaders.” Triangle Pastoral Counseling received Lilly Endowment funding of $685,393 and is one of 47 institutions in the U.S., out of more than 700 applicants, to receive the initial Sustaining Pastoral Excellence grants. Subsequent grants have funded 16 additional projects, bringing the total to 63.

“Clergy who lead congregations find in that role many deeply fulfilling experiences. However, few people who aren’t pastors can understand the stress, the chaos, and the loneliness that comes with the territory of being a pastor to a congregation,” said Dr. Richard Hester, Director of Triangle Pastoral Counseling’s Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Program. “Most of the work of pastors is not visible to the congregation, they are beset by numerous conflicting demands, they are often the target of criticism for things over which they have no control, and they often have no one in whom they can safely confide. Such conditions create isolation in which it’s easy to lose one’s priorities, awareness of one’s strengths and gifts, and the essence of one’s calling. This project aims at breaking down this isolation through peer support and mentoring.”

Rev. Kelli Walker-Jones, Associate Project Director, said, “Pastors serve a community, but they usually have no one to care for them. Seldom do they have a support group of their peers. We aim to help pastors in this project develop support networks and to pass these skills on to other ministers.”

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, of the Duke University Divinity School Faculty, wrote, “I can think of few interventions in actual pastoral ministry more important than what this project intends. . . . It gives the time for the development of those kinds of skills and relationships that seem to me so crucial today if people are not literally to die in the ministry.”

Many organizations are trying to help pastors. Program after program comes across pastors’ desks offering to fix them. What makes this project different?

An interfaith peer support group of clergy, facilitated by the project directors, extending over two years.
Exploration of the assumptive covenants that shape a minister’s work—assumed promises between pastor and congregation that become apparent only when the pastor “violates” them; working to make covenants between clergy and congregation explicit rather than assumed.
Inviting pastors to move away from the “I am responsible for everything and must rush in and fix whatever is broken” role and into a role of facilitating decision-making and not being wedded to the outcome.
Encouraging clergy to define themselves—their values, their views, their theology—rather than trying to move the congregation toward their goals.
Engaging clergy in discernment with their congregations rather than being a persuader who seeks predetermined outcomes.
Regular contact with an experienced mentor who provides regular consultation and support.
Attention to family—both one’s family of origin and of procreation.

This is a program in progress. Participants were selected in 2003 and 2004 for two groups of clergy. Although these groups are now closed, Triangle Pastoral Counseling is exploring ways to provide support to other clergy and congregations.