Pastor & Parish
Pastor & Parish is a learning resource for United Methodist staff-parish relations committees offered by the Duke Clergy Health Initiative. Combining videos, workbook content, guided discussion and complementary readings, this six-session series ties the committee's responsibilities back to their spiritual beginnings.
When you complete Pastor & Parish, your SPRC will have formed important bonds, discovered new language for working with one another, and created a covenant to guide its work as a ministry of the church.
Pastor & Parish will be available for purchase via this website in August 2013. To be notified when the curriculum is available, please join our mailing list.
The Pastor & Parish program features the following materials:
- DVD – Beautifully filmed segments feature theologically-framed commentary by the Rev. Ed Moore, a United Methodist pastor and former district superintendent now serving as educational programs director of the Duke Clergy Health Initiative. Each session also includes perspectives from United Methodist clergy and SPRC members, offering rich insights into how the ideas presented in the series take shape in the local church.
- Participant Workbook – Serving as a companion piece to the DVD, the workbook includes questions designed to elicit individual reflection and candid discussion. Using this resource as a guide, your committee members will explore the ways in which they can increase their effectiveness and further the work of the church.
- Facilitator Guide – This step-by-step manual prepares your SPRC Chair or another member of your congregation to lead your committee through the program, offering tips for fostering effective discussions.
- Complementary Readings – Links to articles, books and additional resources are available on this website to help your committee delve more deeply into the topics introduced in Pastor & Parish.
Each weekly session is designed to last 75-90 minutes.
Session 1: Baptism
Have you ever thought about your presence on the SPRC as a ministry? This session encourages committee members to understand their work as a response to their baptism and to approach their responsibilities to the pastor and the congregation with care and respect.
Session 2: Discipleship
We will explore the nature of Christian discipleship and the ways in which SPRCs can partner with their pastor to fulfill the larger mission of the United Methodist Church: To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Session 3: Sacred Bundle
Each church has its own traditions, taboos, symbols and artifacts that constitute local church culture. But unless they are named, they remain hidden to a new pastor. We’ll discuss the SPRC’s role as narrator or interpreter of your church’s unique character.
Session 4: Truthful Naming
We will explore tools that will equip your committee to deal responsibly with conflict arising in your congregation and “speak the truth in love.”
Session 5: Stewardship of the Pastor
How does your congregation care for its pastor? It’s a demanding role, filled with obligations to the congregation, the community, and the larger United Methodist connection. We’ll explore ways that the SPRC can foster a supportive environment that promotes the well-being of the pastor and his or her family, and consequently, the health of the church.
Session 6: Covenant for Ministry
In its final gathering, your committee will discuss ideas from previous sessions that you would like to see reflected in your work as a committee. You will begin the process of constructing a covenant (or amending an existing one) that reflects the journey you will have taken during this study. This document is specific to your parish setting, designed to complement other assessment tools that your committee may use.
When will Pastor & Parish be available?
We expect to release Pastor & Parish in Summer 2013. To be notified when it is available, join our mailing list.
Who should participate?
Pastor & Parish is designed for staff-parish relations committees, but our hope is that it will foster conversations that enhance the overall work of the church. Therefore, we encourage other key leaders within the congregation, such as the chairs of Church Council or Nominations, to join the group in completing the program. We encourage pastors to participate alongside their committees.
Who should lead the group through the program?
Each participating committee should select a committee member or another member of the congregation to lead your group through the program. The Facilitator Guide provides all the information needed to do so. We strongly discourage pastors from serving as facilitators, as one goal of the program is to build leadership capacity within the church.
What is required?
Each participating committee will receive access to the videos, participant workbooks, and a facilitator guide. To be notified when the curriculum is available for purchase, join our mailing list.
Should we incorporate this program into our regular SPRC meetings?
Please plan to gather at a separate time, ideally weekly. Pastor & Parish is meant to be a formational activity, filled with prayerful reflection about your committee’s service to the church. The Sunday School hour may be the ideal “set-aside” time for this study to take place, emphasizing the formational aspect of this ministry, as well as the practical training. We hope that you will apply these learnings when you gather for regular SPRC meetings, but it would do a disservice to both activities to try to combine the two.
Should you have additional questions, please contact the Clergy Health Initiative.
The resources below delve deeper into the topics introduced in Pastor & Parish:
Session 1: Baptism
- Book, Bath, Table and Time: Christian Worship as Source and Resource for Youth Ministry, by Fred P. Edie
- Temptations and triumphs of ministry, by Kenneth Carder
- A spiritual life, by Allan Hugh Cole Jr.
Session 2: Discipleship
- The spiritual life of the leader, by Janice Riggle Huie
- A pilgrim people following a living God, by Michael Jinkins
- Power for good, by Mary Alice Casey
- The Evangelistic Love of God and Neighbor: A Theology of Witness and Discipleship, by Scott C. Jones
- The end, by L. Gregory Jones
- Rock solid, by Sally Hicks
Session 3: Sacred Bundle
- Traditioned innovation: A biblical way of thinking, by C. Kavin Rowe
- Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, by Christine D. Pohl
Session 4: Truthful Naming
- Circle Manners
- Reconciling All Things: A Christian vision for Justice, Peace and Healing, by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice
- The tie that binds, by Jeremy Troxler
- Love made me an inventor, featuring Maggy Barankitse
Session 5: Stewardship of the Pastor
- Expectations of Pastoral Leadership: A Reference for Pastors and Staff/Pastor-Parish Relations Committees (Sixth edition under the 2008 Book of Discipline). Produced by the Illinois Great Rivers Conference.
- Center for Congregations
- Making transitions, by Bob Wells
- Leading the follower, by Bob Wells
- Living prayer and leadership, an interview with Sarah Coakley
Session 6: Covenant for Ministry
- Watching Over One Another in Love: A Wesleyan Model for Ministry Assessment, by Gwen Purushotham
Praise for Pastor & Parish
“I think it’s the most effective SPRC guide that’s ever come across the table.”
“It gives the staff-parish the tools to appropriately do their work. It takes the adversarial perspective out of it. You can practice truth telling, and do it in a way that does not tear down individuals.”
“I think that it really helped them to understand their role better. They’ve been a lot better support for me. They understand more about the demands of ministry; they also understand more that it’s not just doing HR work. Instead, they put it in a theological framework, which really changed the way they approach things.”
– United Methodist pastors, one year after their committees piloted the Pastor & Parish program