Resources, retreats available in Alabama for stressed pastors

Shock, bewilderment, grief and anger are some of the emotions professionals say ministers face in involuntary termination or other stressful leadership crises in their churches. Pastors may feel alone during these periods, but there are resources available to help.
   
Along with ongoing resources provided by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) LeaderCare office, Ministering to Ministers (MTM) offers retreats.
   
Charles Chandler founded MTM a number of years ago after his own unhappy experience in a church.  “I found few resources to guide me, and I’m not sure I was in a proper frame of mind to use those resources,” Chandler said.  “After leaving a church unhappily, or having gone through a horrific leadership crisis, ministers suffer depression.  I know I did.  You don’t know what to do next or where to turn.”
   
Chandler had been pastor of the church for several years when “the gang of three” came to suggest the church needed new leadership.  The  congregation overturned the “gang of three,” but Chandler felt enough hurt that he decided to leave the church.  He believes God directed him to establish the MTM Foundation and offer help to others.
   
“We sponsor six to eight wellness retreats each year throughout the country,” Chandler said.  “We’ve helped 370 ministers from 20 denominations, but more needs to be done.”
   
Leadership Magazine’s research found that 22.8 percent of survey respondents said they’d faced involuntary termination or forced resignation, and one in four of these said they’d had the experience more than once.
   
Dale Huff, director of the SBOM’s LeaderCare and church administration office, said, “Of the top 10 reasons for terminations we hear about, eight deal with leadership, power and people skills.”
   
Chandler leads most of the retreats and utilizes a number of other contributors.
   
He noted a common problem ministers have after termination is interviewing for jobs while dealing with personal depression.  “They don’t present a confident self-image and often get turned down by prospective employers,” he said.
   
Campbell also deals with forgiveness issues.  “We’re commanded to forgive,” he said, “and forgiveness can be for our benefit.  It is one way God brings peace in our lives.”
   
Chandler says early in each retreat he leads that participants must ask themselves what part their decisions played in their experience.  “Sometimes ministers can be victimized by unhealthy situations,” Chandler said, “and sometimes ministers make some bad decisions.  And sometimes it’s a combination of factors.  We try to understand what happened and why and where we go from here.”
   
The MTM retreat has three components.  A professional like psychiatrist and Christian author Ross Campbell directs therapy, and a psychiatrist is on hand at every retreat.
   
Campbell volunteers his time for several retreats each year and leads sessions on helping children deal with conflict and how ministers can handle anger.  He often recommends continuing therapy and, in some cases, medication to help depressed ministers.
   
The second component is small group dynamics. Participants tell their stories and recount their experiences and learn to trust a new group of people.
   
“We encourage retreat attenders to remain in contact with each other and be a support group,” said Chandler. 
   
“And we try to get everyone back  together for an over-nighter within six months.”
The final component — the “didactic” element — utilizes Chandler’s expertise and that of other resource leaders, such as Huff, who are invited to lead sessions and to share information.
   
“Fifty-four percent of terminated ministers go back into full-time ministry, and that’s good,” said Doug Clark, a retreat leader with MTM who was forced to resign a church years ago over racial issues. “Hopefully they go back in wiser and with greater skills.  But this also means that about half of ministers don’t do full-time ministry again for one reason or another.  We try to help participants see they can apply skills to do other things while continuing to serve God.”
   
Chandler often points out that if a minister has a strong sense of call, he might lose his church, but doesn’t have to lose his ministry.
   
For more information about this ministry can contact MTM at 804-320-6463 or e-mail mtmfound@aol.com.
   
For more information about LeaderCare, contact Huff at 1-800-264-1225