Some Alabama Baptist church members may not want to believe it, but their pastors are human too.
These days, more than ever, pastors are struggling with marital problems, real-world difficulties with their children and other personal issues once thought to exist only in a layperson’s world.
With the demands of ministry, many pastors have limited time at home, fewer opportunities to spend time alone with God and few personal and spiritual accountability connections.
The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) provides both remedial and preventative resources for pastors in personal crises, including individual counseling, small-group support and an extensive statewide mentor network.
According to Dale Huff, SBOM’s director of the office of LeaderCare/church administration, subsidized individual counseling is made available to Alabama Baptist pastors and their dependent family members on an ongoing basis.
“We’ve got 30 counselors in the state we use as referral counselors,” Huff said. “If a pastor were to indicate he was having marital difficulties, difficulties with a child or whatever, then we would put him in touch with one of our counselors and subsidize the cost of that to the degree that it would enable that pastor to get the counseling.” Arrangements for counseling are handled anonymously, he noted.
Although Huff doesn’t know the exact number of pastors and family members who have utilized the service, he believes it is close to 200 people a year. Every year, though, the counseling program goes over its budget.
The biggest barrier to the effectiveness of the program, Huff said, may be a pastor’s hesitation to admit that he’s dealing with the same kinds of problems that everybody else does and to get professional support.
“He’s got this image issue and the idea that, ‘If I go to counseling, people will think my faith is not what it ought to be,’” Huff said. “There’s a hesitation on anybody’s part to get counseling support, but I think that speed bump of hesitation is higher for anyone in a ministry role.”
Another potential resource for pastors is Refocusing, a two-year support program composed of about 100 pastors throughout the state.
Participants in this program meet once a month in small groups of about five members each. Refocusing provides pastors with a source of peer support and an environment in which they feel comfortable sharing.
“This program does have an accountability aspect to it because they are to be very open with one another about some of the issues they are dealing with,” Huff said. “We create a safe place where they can discuss those things.”
An important aspect of Refocusing, Huff said, is that the membership of each group remains constant, allowing individuals to establish and maintain trust relationships.
The Refocusing program, although offered statewide, is ongoing in only about 20
A third resource for pastors, one designed to assist primarily with personal growth as opposed to problem solving, is the relatively new Alabama Baptist Mentor Network.
Now in its third year, the network is a grass roots initiative espousing the simple philosophy that mentor relationships must be intentional in order to be the most beneficial.
Those relationships may be initiated by a potential mentor or a potential protégé, but the network’s approach is to encourage each mentor to establish a “mentor constellation” of three or four people. Mentors are also asked to accept an additional protégé or two who may call to request a mentor.
Network coordinator Edwin Jenkins said organizers maintain the program’s grass roots status by offering structure without being stifling.
“We have three regional coordinators and 12 districts with coordinators in each of the districts,” Jenkins said.
“We’ve set up district counsels and do training. It’s an extensive program. We have a network base of people all over the state.”
Training and development opportunities provided through the network include sessions on strengthening marriage and family relationships geared toward pastors and others serving in ministry capacities.
Although not specifically intended as an accountability tool, the network does provide an accountability connection that a pastor may not otherwise have, according to Huff.
The Alabama Baptist Mentor Network will be holding district training during September, October and November.
Share with others: