JMM
Pastoral Pressures
“Pastors are the single most occupationally frustrated group in America,” says Southern California psychologist Richard Blackmon, quoted in a recent Los Angeles Times story on the demands faced by today’s spiritual leaders. Roughly 30% to 40% of religious leaders eventually drop out of the ministry, according to Blackmon. About 75% go through a period of […]
Bullied In Ministry
Seven months after moving away from the parishes where we were psychologically bullied for almost 5 years, our lives are still dominated by the experience as our minds and bodies struggle daily to survive the psychiatric injuries we have sustained. And, as we sit here thinking how we can write about our experiences, there is […]
How Many Ex-Pastors?
Rowland Croucher was recently asked how many ex-pastors he estimated there were currently in Australia. All our international list members can ‘listen in’ to his commentary on the situation and see how they think their own country compares… When we started John Mark Ministries in 1991 our estimate was that there were 10,000 ex-pastors in […]
Rowland Croucher’s Story [1]
A note to my readers: [For updates: please visit http://rowlandcroucher.blogspot.com/] How does a book get written? Mostly little by little, concept after concept, in bits and pieces over many days, months, or even years You are now about to witness the ongoing process of my writing an autobiography. Some of it will be messy – […]
Rowland Croucher’s Story [2]
PART TWO BRETHREN The so-called Brethren (‘Plymouth Brethren’, but we preferred to be called ‘Christian Brethren’) have had an influence on Western Christianity out of all proportion to their numbers. The missionary work they have done in places like the Sahel regions of Africa, Russia, and Argentina, has not yet been fully told. They began […]
Rowland Croucher: An Interview
An INTERVIEW with myself Written by Rowland Croucher (updated February 2001) In my training-to-be-a-counselor I had to read Watson and Tharp’s excellent book ‘Self-Directed Behavior’ on behavior modification techniques. One of these is self-talk. So here’s a rambling list of questions I’m asking myself – and other people have asked me. Why do they ask […]
RETREATS
One of the special offerings of John Mark Ministries to pastors, church leaders and their spouses – and many others – is a ‘This is Your Life’ retreat. In these two months as I write six individuals and one couple have booked a retreat-time. (They will come from our home-state Victoria, one from interstate, another […]
John Mark Ministries: A Statement Of Faith
The following Christian doctrines give an expression of the core beliefs of the Ministry, (as at January 1996): We believe – in one God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – who is revealed to humankind in many and varied ways, but especially and ultimately in Jesus; that the Bible – Old and New Testaments – […]
A Pastor’s Loneliness
Here’s the story – all-too-common – of one of John Mark Ministries’ clients. His identity is being kept confidential at this stage. If you’re a pastor and identify with his loneliness, why not respond with your story, and I’ll forward it to him? If you’re not a pastor, why not forward/copy this to one you […]
A Statement Of Faith
Here’s a Statement of Faith I put together in the 1980s. I’m leaving it mostly unamended, although perhaps here and there a word or phrase might be expressed differently. I substantially agree with this still, in 2013.  (See notes at the bottom). Rowland Croucher. STATEMENT OF FAITH AND PRACTICE 1. There is one God, […]
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