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Pastoral

This category contains 260 posts

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‘Let no one who is not eager for truth and peace enter here’ (Plato)

Articles on this site express varying points of view, to encourage mature thinking on serious issues. The assumption is that you will want to study a controversial topic from various angles before you arrive at a conclusion, rather than simply believe what someone told you when you were impressionable! (So some stuff here is ‘hot’. Proceed at your own risk!). See the Statement of Faith for John Mark Ministries' theological stance.

Pastoral Demographics in Australia

Better start vicar-nicking as preachers peter out Bernard Salt, Demographer August 14, 2008 I AM concerned for the spiritual well-being of the Australian nation. New figures extracted from the 2006 census show there are 14,800 ministers of religion in Australia, or about one per 1500 residents. Most ministers hover around middle-age, although I am pleased […]

On the I R S (Billy James Hargis)

*Sightings* 5/19/08 On the IRS — Martin E. Marty Billy James Hargis, a now forgotten but once towering figure on the not yet couth religious right, built a radio ministry and developed an anti-Communist front that has to be remembered as rabid. The preacher of righteousness was so overtly political that the Internal Revenue Service […]

Balanced Churches

Letter just received from a former pastor. Reproduced here with his permission… Dear Rowland, Hope you are well. After the last number of years, which has included loss of parents, others and jobs, I have returned to Rome. So, Sunday mornings our family attends the hard line Presbyterian church, [truth minus love] church 50 weeks […]

Ex-pastors: why do clergy leave parish ministry?

From Wikipedia Observers like clergy counselor Rowland Croucher suggest that the numbers of ex-pastors roughly equal that of serving clergy throughout the Western world. This would mean there is a six-figure number of these people. He also suggests that more pastors and priests may be leaving parish ministry than are lost to most other professions. […]

Sexually Abusive Priests: Do we welcome them back into the church?

Sexually abusive priests can throw up some interesting dilemmas for congregations! In the article below, Sharwood, after serving a jail term for abusing a 13yo boy, and immediately before his church tribunal hearing to determine whether he should remain a priest or be defrocked, sang in his local church choir. (Incidentally, he was released from […]

A Consistent Biblical Approach to (homo)sexuality

Dr. Keith Dyer (Professor of New Testament, Whitley College, University of Melbourne) Placing Bible and homosexuality together in the one sentence always provokes questions. Some questioners are genuinely puzzled, some are angry: Why do we continue to ask what the Bible says about homosexuality when the few verses that do seem to refer to it […]

Catholic Concerns (Martin Marty)

Sightings 12/3/07 Catholic Concerns — Martin E. Marty Paul Stanosz, a sociologist and priest in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, speaks of difficult times: “It’s been a rough year… where I have been a priest since 1984. Recently the Archdiocese announced the closing of the academic program at its 151-year-old seminary. Its central offices… are for […]

Stress/burnout Inventory For Pastors

    STRESS/BURNOUT INVENTORY FOR PASTORS/LEADERS   TICK ONE BOX 1 = YES/SERIOUS/BAD –> 5 = NO/NOT AT ALL/NOT EVER/OK   ~~~~   BACKGROUND/FAMILY OF ORIGIN/UNDERLYING FACTORS   1. My family of origin was dysfunctional 1. [   ] 2. [   ] 3. [   ] 4. [   ] 5. [   ]   2. My mother was […]

Finishing Strong/Ending Well

Finishing Strong/Ending Well: Leaving Congregational Ministry at the Top of Your Game * Finishing Well: From Microscopic To Macroscopic * Pastoral Resources From the Alban Institute By Roy M. Oswald Pastors nearing retirement often find themselves living the paradox of possessing a rich reservoir of accumulated wisdom and yet feeling constrained by a depleted spirit. […]

Pastors: eight crucial factors

Eight factors in the lives of pastors who struggle in pastoral ministry: 1. Personhood issues 2. Team in marriage – Team in ministry 3. Lack of self care 4. Lack of group skills 5. Lack of interpersonal skills 6. Lack of conflict resolution skills 7. Failure to have effective supervision, debriefing and mentoring 8. Failure […]