Resolutions/Report of Pastoral Development Committee
Diocesan Press Service. November 3, 1972 [72172]
RESOLVED that the House of Bishops endorses the philosophy and proposed program contained in the report of the Committee on Pastoral Development of October, 1972;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Bishops accepts this philosophy and program as its own.
BE IT RESOLVED that the program of the House of Bishops Committee on Pastoral Development be recommended by this House to the Executive Council as of the highest priority.
RESOLVED that the House of Bishops endorses the seven goals established for 1973 by the Committee on Pastoral Development;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the individual members of the House of Bishops will actively support these goals and will share in proportion to their ability in the effort to secure the necessary funding for 1973.
Adopted 11/3/72
Introduction:
Our focus is on the person and the office of the Bishop.
I. There are certain decisive moments that bishops generally have in common.
II. There are some direct services that bishops need.
III. There are also some referral services that can assist bishops. IV. Two ways of helping one another.
V. This is what it costs financially.
VI. A summary of where the committee plans to spend its energies on behalf of the House of Bishops.
According to the records of the House of Bishops, the name for the Committee which is presenting this report has been changed several times since it was first created by Bishop Lichtenberger in 1959. The present title was adopted in 1969. By choosing this particular name, the Committee did in fact make an important announcement about its function:
It would seek to encourage, develop and popularize ideas, concepts and resources which would support, strengthen and minister to pastoral care givers throughout the Episcopal Church. It's function would be more educative and preventive, rather than curative and service-oriented.
While not abandoning the task of assisting bishops in their ministry to the clergyman in personal crisis, the Committee sought to move away from a limited clinical model toward a broader type of program which stresses personal growth and professional development for all clergy - taking specifically into consideration the ministry of the episcopate.
Concurrent with this movement within the life of the Committee toward an enlarged, supporting, and health oriented function, there was a similar movement within the Church reflected in the proposal, adoption and growing implementation of the Diocesan Commission on Ministry.
This means that within the House of Bishops and within the church as a whole we seem to be coming out at the same place: namely, the recognition of the needs of professional leadership and the resolution to provide a comprehensive support system which, while caring for those in difficulty, exerts its greatest energies fostering personal growth and professional development. We see this as the best way to decrease the incidence of critical problems and the best way to maximize the potential, the productivity, the effectiveness, and the joyfulness of the church's ordained leadership.
This health and growth oriented philosophy is the only one that can be theologically justified in these days of continuing crisis and of inordinate demands upon leadership. The world is not going to drift blissfully back into easier, happier, and less demanding times. Since we now know that the battle has been joined as never before in all of history then new premium must be placed upon developing competence and supporting creatively those leaders whose positions expose them to unusual pressures and conflicts for the Gospel's sake. To be honest and just and fair and dedicated to an ideal perhaps costs far more today than it did 50 years ago. The answer is not to provide more crutches and splints and miracle drugs for the treatment of embattled leaders. Rather, the answer is in terms of more careful selection and orientation, of on-going training, continuing professional development, and an early warning system for personal, emotional, and spiritual dis-ease. Health and effectiveness is secured more by early diagnosis and preventive measures rather than through expensive hospitals and costly, long-term treatment procedures.
The programs and services now offered by the Committee on Pastoral Development seek to respond to this mandate for health and effectiveness. In a sense, what is here proposed and recommended is a concept which supplies to the House of Bishops the type of service and support supplied to a body of clergy in a diocese through a diocesan Commission on Ministry. We are proposing a kind of commission on episcopal ministry to assist bishops in their specialized tasks and in the effective fulfillment of the apostolic role for which they have been ordained.
The framework within which the program of the Committee on Pastoral Development is placed is the framework of crisis points in the episcopal ministry . . . decisive moments . . . turning points. These points may be times of difficulty and danger, but primarily they are seen as times of important decisions and times when new directions are taken.
Generally speaking, all bishops face a similar cycle of crises. The exact date and time for such crises cannot be foreseen; circumstances vary quite widely. In the course of a bishop's episcopal ministry he is required to make certain predictable and important decisions; he must confront a series of turning points; he must run the risk of exposing himself to certain difficulties and dangers.
Among some of the major 'decisive moments' in a bishop's life are the following: being invited to be a candidate for election, being elected, adjustment to a new life and work style, recognizing the need for training and on-going professional development for the task, evaluation in the face of new accountabilities, organizational and social changes which threaten to alter established standards and ways of work, intense demands for pastoral care and guidance arising out of extreme need in the lives of subordinates, fatigue, illness, declining energy, retirement, life in retirement, and death. Of course, there are other 'decisive moments' and 'turning points', but this catalogue will suffice to demonstrate that by and large these crisis points occur generally in the life and work of all bishops everywhere.
Several observations can be made regarding the framework of crisis:
1. Since these phases of personal and professional experience do not come as a surprise, the support needed to deal with them creatively and constructively can and should be made readily available.
2. Experts in the field of the management of crisis have pointed out that man's natural survival instinct will often be sufficient to enable him to get through a crisis time without being destroyed. However, the strength, resilience, capacity for sustaining loving, other-regarding affiliative, relationships and the potential for continuing flexibility and growth that a person possesses and manifests after the crisis will depend very largely on the way in which he is supported before, during and immediately following the maximum turmoil caused by the crisis. The well- supported person can emerge from the experience enhanced, more aware, mature and loving. The poorly supported person may emerge depressed, threatened, withdrawn, and falsely extroverted so as to cover over the lingering pain of unresolved conflicts and the fear of being closely involved with other persons.
3. The decisive moments, the turning points, and the times of difficulty and danger in the life of a bishop are paralleled by similar experiences in the lives of the clergy who serve with or under the bishop's government of the Church in his diocese. Attending to their needs both as persons and as professionals is a major task in the bishop's role and function. Continuing support, the use of sophisticated resources, and expertise in managing crisis . . . . when these are offered to the bishop the effectiveness of his ministry to these other persons is increased. The bishop who himself receives a ministry of support and strengthening for his work becomes thereby more competent to give to others the very support and strength needed in their work.
The Committee on Pastoral Development has concluded that it needs to focus on services addressed to the decisive moments and to the turning points in a bishop's life. Certain specific services can be identified as relevant right now. The Committee intends to expand these in answer to your evaluation and our common growing insights.
II. There are some direct services that bishops need.
1. Consultation to new bishops
The keystone of a ministry to bishops begins logically at the beginning of a man's episcopate. A program of supportive consultation offered to newly consecrated bishops has been in operation for several years. At it's next meeting, the House will have a chance to hear what such consultation is like and what it can effect in helping a man start out with greater confidence in his role as bishop. At the present time 23 new bishops have entered upon a consulting relationship with a more experienced peer who has received training in consultation skills. Consultants are required to attend a 3 day teaching seminar. Then, each year that they serve as a consultant they are expected to be present for a 2 day review seminar. This means that in our budgeting we must plan for 2 seminars per year - or five days of instruction and review.
The costs generated by travel and communications for consultant and consultee are usually shared equally by the both of them. However, there are times when one bishop's budget cannot carry the extra expense. There are some instances where the distances and amount of travel required exceed the normal arrangement. Some subsidy funds are needed to cover these costs.
The budget for this service is approximately as follows:
1. Teaching Seminar
a) $2,500.00 (10 participants . . . $250.00 average cost for travel and hotel per participant (3 days))
b) $1,200.00 Consultant's fee
2. Review Seminar
a) $3,375.00 (15 participants . .. $225.00 average cost for travel and hotel per participant (2 days))
b) 600.00Consultant's fee
3. $ 1,000.00 Consultant-consultee travel subsidy
TOTAL
$10,675.00
(In addition to this cost other expenses are incurred on behalf of this program by the Office of Pastoral Development in maintaining this consultation service: telephone, postage, materials, and director's travel a4n expenses reflected in the appended budget.)
2. Continuing education consultation
Real learning means learning what I really want and need to know. Since, then, each bishop needs his own custom-tailored long range and short range continuing education program, a service is available to assist a bishop in setting his own goals and selecting opportunities and resources that best satisfy his particular needs. A part of the service is accumulating data and experience so that this data and experience can be interchanged among bishops. The Office of Pastoral Development agrees to act as the repository and switchboard for continuing education data and experience. When any bishop raises questions in this field, OPD will endeavor to help him find the answers he is looking for.
3.Bishops' seminars
In addition to offering consultative services, the Office of Pastoral Development will from time to time sponsor seminars designed specifically for bishops. So far in 1972 seminars have been offered dealing with Spirituality, Planning and Developing Managerial Skills, Career and Organizational Development, and Developing Consultation Skills. 45 bishops have participated in these seminars. There is no subsidy for this program. Each bishop participating pays a proportionate share of the cost and is required to draw on whatever funds may be available to him (either within or from outside his diocese) for his own continuing education needs.
4. Crisis Assistance
There are times when individual clergymen and/or clergy family members experience a crisis which on occasion generates considerable difficulty and even danger for the persons involved. Many such critical incidents are handled in a more than adequate way within the local or diocesan situation. However, there are times when a bishop welcomes an outside resource in finding the solutions to some of these very complex problems. The Office of Pastoral Development is available to assist either by helping to locate appropriate resources for referral or through a program of crisis intervention offered by its Director in Florida. The method of intervention offered includes psychological and psychiatric evaluation, an adaptation of career assessment and evaluation, supportive counseling, planning for the future, referral for therapy where indicated, continuing education consultation if needed, and limited follow-up until the individual is adequately reestablished.
The costs in connection with a typical intervention of this nature may include $185.00 for psychiatric and psychological evaluation, $90.00 for complete physical examination, 5 days - motel and meals . . . approximately $120.00, and usually a substantial amount of long distance telephoning for preparation and follow-up. These expenses are paid by the bishop making the referral.
5. Retirement Planning.
This is a service yet to be proven, but there is the expectation that a percentage of bishops will welcome the opportunity to think out well ahead of time some of the details, goals, and objectives of their own retirement. This is important both for the bishops and for their dioceses. A bishop needs to let go gladly if the diocese is to be free. The church, too, needs clear planning on the part of retiring bishops so that those with energy and skill may effectively continue to offer these assets to the Church. A format for a retirement planning seminar for bishops and their wives has been prepared.
The Church Pension Fund is joining with the Committee on Pastoral Development in the promotion of this seminar. If the formula selected for dealing with this decisive moment and turning point in a bishop's life is successful then we anticipate that such a seminar would become an annual event for bishops between the ages of 55 and 60 who might wish to participate. The costs would be as follows:
$190.00 per participant
80.00 room and meals (5 days)
$270.00 plus travel
6. Consultation to Dioceses Preparing for Episcopal Elections
This major service has been described in a memo which is available at your request from the Office of Pastoral Development. The whole concept is an adaptation of a consultation service that has been in development for several years to assist parishes in the search and selection of new rectors. Performing a parallel service for dioceses is far more complex. The service has been offered on 3 occasions and in each instance appears to have been helpful. It limits itself to clarifying the task and role of the bishop, his accountability to the diocese and the accountability of the diocese to the bishop. It does not in any way enter into the process of screening candidates and evaluating nominees. It is understood that all costs incurred will be covered by the diocese. It also provides a basis for real dialogue between a new bishop and his diocesan authorities, and this helps in dealing realistically with expectations, goals, and relationships. This is a very helpful supplement to the new bishop consultation process.
III. There are also some Referral Services that can assist Bishops
1. Career evaluation for Bishops
With the past few years much attention has been called to this valuable resource. Many large corporations have established career evaluation and career planning units within their own systems so as to assist their own personnel in finding richer rewards of a non- material nature in their work and in planning for the use of their full potential and in realizing higher levels of achievement. In 1966 the Presbyterian Church opened its own Center for career evaluation and planning at Princeton, New Jersey. In 1969, Provinces I, II, and III began a 3.year trial period of collaboration in the use of the Princeton Center. Since then more Centers have opened up across the country and other models for career evaluation have become operative. At this point we are able to say that any bishop who really wants a career evaluation for himself can have it and he can choose among various facilities and methods for securing this experience for himself. The Office of Pastoral Development advocates the use of career development resources and is prepared to recommend specific facilities for any bishops who wish to explore this important matter. Costs vary and may run anywhere from $450.00 to $1,000.00.
2. The treatment of alcoholics and liaison with the Recovered Alcoholic Clergy Association
The treatment of alcoholics is a specialized procedure and the Office of Pastoral Development maintains contact with a network of specialists whose skill and knowledge can be utilized for clergy throughout the country. In collaboration with the Recovered Alcoholic Clergy Association a policy statement calling for early identification and prompt treatment has been published. OPD advocates the implementation of this policy in each diocese and is prepared to assist local advisory committees in establishing their own procedures and in tying in with a larger national network of resources. A hotline service for problem drinkers has been developed. Copies of the policy statement and other pertinent information has been circulated to the members of the House of Bishops. Since RACA has only income generated through their own dues payments a subsidy of $1,000.00 should be offered for their support and services to problem drinkers.
3. Ministry to Disabled Clergy
There are usually around 200 clergy receiving disability benefits at anyone time. Sometimes disabilities are total and permanent. Other times they are partial and only temporary. The Church Pension Fund administers these benefits, and the Medical Committee of the CPF makes the decisions about extending, modifying or terminating disability benefits. The Office of Pastoral Development maintains liaison with CPF on these matters, and collaborates with the social case worker now on the CPF staff who reviews applications for disability benefits and explores rehabilitative resources for those on disability. In cases other than total and permanent disability we advocate the use of all available rehabilitative concepts and facilities, and in all cases we advocate the continuing ministry of loving concern both on the part of the Church Pension Fund and on the part of the local church and diocese. All costs in regard to problems generated by disability are covered by the Church Pension Fund.
IV. Two ways of helping one another.
1. The Bishops Exchange
This is an experimental project for creating groups of 12 bishops who will be committed to reporting systematically to one another regarding aspects of their work. It is a kind of professional association in which planned communication and interchange of experiences occurs. The first pilot group of 12 experimenters is just getting under way. Each member in the course of a year will write one 5 page paper on some aspect of his role and task as a bishop. In addition to this one presentation paper each member agrees to write a one half page response to each of the other "presentation papers". Coordination, xeroxing, and mailing for this project will be done by the Academy of Parish Clergy, Inc.
In terms of cost the Academy will be paid $500.00 as a start-up cost. Each participant will give $50.00 to cover the cost of xeroxing and mailing for the year.
2. Research on the Role of the Bishop
Under this general category of reporting and research an in-depth research study of the role of the bishop is being planned. The details of the survey methodology have not yet been fixed. The goal will be to secure data from bishops themselves based on their own experience. The research will be empirical and will try to identify how the role of the bishop is perceived today, how it is changing, and what on-going training, continuing education, and professional development a bishop is liable to need in order to serve effectively in the church and in the world in the latter part of the 20th Century.
The Committee on the Office of the Bishop has been invited to collaborate in this effort.
It is expected that such a survey would cost between $30,000.00 to $45,000.00. The cost factor will actually depend on the research methodology chosen. The most expensive - and the most useful form - will be individual interviewing. Savings can be achieved through group interviewing. The least expensive, of course, will be the use of a questionnaire to be completed by each bishop.
V. This is What it Costs Financially
1. Present budget and projected needs.
In the past the work of the Committee on Pastoral Development has been maintained by allocations both from the General Church Program budget and from the budget of the Joint Commission on Expenses of the General Convention. When the program allocation was reduced at the time of the Houston Convention, members of the Committee conducted a solicitation and secured additional funding through gifts and contributions from some of the members of the House. In 1971, this was mostly from the members of the Committee itself. In 1972, others of you generously contributed to this cause.
Approximately $51,000.00 per year is needed. Yet only $32,410.00 of this is available in 1972 and only $32,410.00 is likely to be available in 1973, from the General Convention Program Budget to maintain the Office of Pastoral Development.
In addition, funds needed for training programs and committee meetings are estimated as follows:
$10,675.00 New Bishops Consultation Program
$1,350.00 Retirement Seminar Subsidy (half scholarship for 10 persons)
$1,000.00 Subsidy to RACA for their support and services to problem drinkers
$500.00 The Bishops Exchange
$30,000.00 + Research on Role of Bishop
$2,000.00Committee Meetings
TOTAL
$45,525.00
2. 1973 Budget
In 1973 it is expected that the Office of Pastoral Development will receive $32,410.00 from the General Convention Budget. This means that $18,590.00 will have to be raised by solicitation in 1973 in order to meet the basic operating cost of the Office of Pastoral Development.
We believe that three other items are essential - the New Bishop Consultation Program, the Bishops Exchange, and meetings of the Committee. The consultation program will cost $10,675.00; the Bishops Exchange - $500.00; and committee meetings - $2,000.00. This makes a total of $13,175.00. This is a bare minimum for program needs. Add this amount to the anticipated operation deficit of $18,590.00 and it means that what we need to raise outside the budget for 1973 is $32,765.00 as a minimum.
3. Special Grants
Whether or not foundations will give to a cause such as this remains to be seen. The Strong Fund of Rochester made a one time contribution of $10,000.00 in 1972. Information about private foundations who may be interested in a project such as this will be much appreciated. If the bishops believe this to be important, we each will need to take the leadership in securing some portion of this amount of money for 1973. We will also need to do our share in working for more adequate budget support at the next General Convention. A gift of from $100.00 to $500.00 from every bishop would guarantee this full program for 1973.
Therefore:
After a history (since 1959) of experimentation, exploration, and goal definition, the Committee on Pastoral Development has now focused on certain objectives and is prepared to work on these objectives.
Attached to this overall report is a statement of seven specific goals for 1973.
We now call on the House of Bishops to examine this report and these goals and to decide whether or not it wishes to endorse this program and philosophy and support it by finances and participation.
Summary of where the Committee Plans to Spend its Energies on Behalf of the House of Bishops:
1. Maintain, extend, and improve the program of offering and providing consultation to all new bishops.
2. Plan and execute a survey of the Bishop's role and his developmental needs.
3. Develop and carry out 2 professional seminars which will satisfy certain continuing education needs of Bishops.
4. Call attention to career evaluation and assessment as a resource available to Bishops and assist in enabling at least 5 Bishops to take advantage of this experience.
5. Develop a pre-election program of consultation for a diocese to assist the diocese in preparing for its episcopal election.
6. Establish a "Bishops Exchange" for at least one pilot group.
7. Throughout the year respond to requests from Bishops for crisis intervention services.