PPCN Mission

Nurturing the health of the Body of Christ through caring for its

pastors.

PPCN  Board

Dan Corll, President

Pittsburgh Presbytery

Joe Sandifer, Vice President

Presbytery of Greater Atlanta

Carol Allen, Secretary

Chicago Presbytery

Alan Baroody, Treasurer

Savannah Presbytery

Melanie Hancock

Presbytery of Northern Kansas 

Steve McCutchan, Newsletter Editor

Salem Presbytery

Christine Sage

Pacific Presbytery

Lou Snead

Mission Presbytery

Gary Weaver 

Presbytery of Pueblo

Denominational Advisors:

Marcia Meyers

Director

Office of Vocation, PC(USA)

Helen Locklear

Board of Pensions, PC(USA)

A Deep Well for the Pastor:  Spiritual meditations & music to support the  pastoral vocation.  Price: $10 

To Order: Call Presbyterian  Distribution Center

Ph. 1-800-524-2612

Ask for OGA-08-099

CD Offering 70 minutes of humorous and musical reflections on the challenges of ministry.  Price $15.99

 Order here

Website

Membership

~REGISTER TODAY~     

"Staying Afloat on Stormy Seas:  

Caring for Clergy in Trying Times"   

Those of us who have been working to promote clergy care within the variety of presbyteries across the PC (USA) have been discussing our shared pastoral concerns for the health of church leaders who serve, not only congregations, but presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly in particular.  

These are difficult and stressful days for those who....

    Top 

An Invitation to Sessions, Presbytery Committees, Pastors, and Others Who Care About Healthy Ministry

October 2, 2012 at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) ~or~   

October 2, 2012 at 8 p.m. EST (5 p.m. PST)

Co-sponsors:  The Presbyterian Outlook and

                   The Presbytery Pastoral Care Network

What you will learn in this Webinar:

• A deeper appreciation for the nature of stress on Clergy in their personal and professional lives.
• Understanding of why it is difficult for clergy to attend to their own health.
• How to access a practical resource for sessions in how to support their clergy.
• Appreciation for a team concept of the Session and Pastor's relationship.
• Introduction to a practical support plan between the pastor(s) and the session in effecting the church's ministry.
• How to nurture long-term, healthy pastoral leadership.  

Presenter: Stephen McCutchan   

Who should attend this Webinar:

• Sessions 
• Clerks of Session
• Church Personnel Committee
• Pastors who want to connect with their sessions as a ministry team
• Committee on Ministry who seek to build healthier pastor/Congregational relationships.
• Presbytery Staff who are seeking ideas to improve the health of their congregations

How to Register:    

Webinar registration at www.pres-outlook.org

Cost:  

DISCOUNTED RATE of $19.95 for PPCN members, or    

$29.95 for individuals, $39.95 for sessions up to 12 and $49.95 for sessions greater than 12.  DVD copies $39.95.

More information:  Email Steve McCutchan.  

In the Presbytery of Atlanta, there are nine Clergy Clusters that meet every other month for lunch and fellowship. The clusters are organized geographically. They include all clergy - installed, validated, retired, etc. No formal program is planned. The Pastor to Pastors leads each group and after eating and informal conversation, he will pose a question for all to answer. Questions are intended to help us know each other better...like, "What is your baptized name and where did you get it?" or "What is a book or TV program or movie that you have read or seen since we last met that you really liked?" Another purpose for the questions is to keep those who talk all the time from dominating and those who never talk to have some 'air time.' It is amazing the bonds we establish in a very simple way.

We usually meet at someone's church. The host provides the drinks. The Pastor to Pastors brings $6 box lunches that he gets from Jason's Deli. Reminders of the meeting are sent out by email the week before and folks are asked to reply.

The Clusters meet from 12:00 to 1:30. The number of clergy at each cluster varies from 6 to 26 depending on the number of clergy in the area as well as their schedule and interest.

One thing is true....'getting together' helps most clergy however it is done.

(For additional information contact Joe Sandifer, Pastor to Pastors, Presbytery of Greater Atlanta)  

Imagine my surprise when I learned earlier in the year that an order had been placed for 150 copies of both A Deep Well for the Pastor and Laughter From the Well. While I was very pleased, I also wanted to know the story behind the purchase. A pastor who recently retired in a presbytery in Indiana decided that after years of being on a COM and saying we ought to do something to support our clergy, he wanted to do something. First, he agreed to be on a special task force for the care of clergy. Next, his task force decided that they wanted to affirm the ministry of those within the presbytery by honoring both their ordination anniversary and the date of their installation to their current charge. It was this decision that led to the purchase of the CDs. They had determined that they would give one of the CDs to honor each occasion of the pastors in their presbytery.

An interesting sidelight to the story is that after they had made that decision, they decided to apply to the Lilly Foundation for a leadership grant and that grant paid for the CDs. Sometimes when you decide to bless others, you also experience a blessing.

Not long after that, another presbytery decided they wanted to do something to express hospitality to those clergy who were newly entering their presbytery. They decided that laughter might be the best gift so they purchased a copy of Laughter From the Well as their gift to the new clergy.

If your presbytery is interested in a similar program of supporting your clergy, please let us know. 

Laughter at themselves and the complexity of their calling can refresh pastors and heal them of the wounds that they experience in responding to their calls. In the midst of the seriousness of our professions, we need moments when "our mouth (is) filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy." (Psalm 126:2) Laughter is a promise that has a future. As Job says, "See, God will not reject a blameless person, . . . He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy"(8:21) Or as Luke's version of the Beatitudes says, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." (6:21b) Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is "a time to weep and a time to laugh." Perhaps now is the time to open ourselves to some more laughter.

I guess God really is smarter than I am.