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Congregational Life: Leaders & Outreach: Care for Caregivers

tools for empowering leadership, developing joyful, informed volunteers and supporting effective teams which strengthen outreach and hospitality

Welcome

Welcome to The Ministry Lab's curated list of resources to encourage pastoral care providers to engage in needed self-care. Here you'll find:

  • Books & Downloads - to develop awareness and cultivate personal time and space
  • Blogs, Podcasts & Articles - for moments of encouragement and support
  • Websites & Curricula - to develop personal awareness and growth
  • Videos & Webinars - for sustenance and encouragement

If you don't find a resource to fit your need, don't hesitate to consult with The Ministry Lab's director, Emily Meyer, who is happy to assist you.

Books & Devotionals

Already Toast          The Awakened Brain: 9780241401934: Amazon.com: Books     Beside Still Waters: Favorite Prayers, Poems, and Scriptures to Calm the Soul          Calm and Quiet My Soul     Caregiving 101 (Cannon)     Clergy Burnout, Revised and Expanded: Surviving in Turbulent Times     The Conscious Enneagram: How to Move from Typology to Transformation     The Deepest Belonging: A Story about Discovering Where God Meets Us Cover Image     Dimming the Day: Evening Meditations for Quiet Wonder     Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee               The Embodied Path: Telling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness  | Broadleaf Books     The End of Burnout by Jonathan Malesic     The Enneagram for Black Liberation: Return to Who You Are Beneath the Armor You Carry     Everything Isn't Terrible     Finding Refuge          BL_TheGiftOfRestlessness_Cover_9781506483566     Give Me Strength | Personal Prayers for School Teachers (Harris-Ewing)          Picture of Good Enough     The Gospel of Loneliness (Wolter)     The Healing Path:  A Memoir and an Invitation     Holy Friendships: Nurturing Relationships That Sustain Pastors and Leaders     Hood Wellness     Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Simplicity, Awakening, and Peace     The How     In Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry, and  Practicing Peace: Michel, Jen Pollock: 9781540900548: Amazon.com: Books     Lay Pastoral Care: A Narrative Approach          Let the Light In     The Love Habit: Daily Self-Care Practices for a Happier Life and Healthier Relationships          Only Work Sundays | A Laidback Guide to Doing Less while Helping Your Church Thrive (Miller)     Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life     Pastoral Pause          Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings     People Throw Rocks At Things That Shine: A Clergy Whistleblower's Journey:  Caulfield, Rev. Beth: 9798986103211: Amazon.com: Books     Professional Christian     Purposeful Empathy: Tapping Our Hidden Superpower for Personal, Organizational, and Social Change     Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals,  Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included) a book by Pooja Lakshmin     Recovering Abundance: Twelve Practices for Small-Town Leaders     The Resilient Pastor  -     By: Glenn Packiam     Rest is Resistance     The Rhythm of Compassion: Caring for Self, Connecting with Society: Straub,  Gail: 9780963032737: Amazon.com: Books          Sacred Self-Care     Saving Time          Picture of Signs of Hope     To Be Made Well          Through the Eyes of Titans: Finding Courage to Redeem the Soul of a Nation          Transforming Loneliness: Deepening Our Relationships with God and Others  When We Feel Alone: Graham, Ruth, Lambert, Cindy: 9780801094279:  Amazon.com: Books     Trauma Stewardship by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk          The Tyranny of Merit          The Wisdom of Your Body          You Don't Owe Anyone: Free Yourself from the Weight of Expectations     You Should Leave Now: Going on Retreat to Find Your Way Back to Yourself     Your New Now - Finding Strength and Wisdom When Yo | Cokesbury

Journals

160          

Blogs, Podcasts & Articles

The Resilient Pastor

Join pastors Glenn Packiam, Rich Villodas and Sharon Hodde Miller as they invite leaders to think out loud together about the challenges and opportunities of leading a church in a rapidly changing world. In each episode, they will have a conversation about church leadership and the challenges pastors are facing. Then, they’ll share a conversation with a pastor, church leader, thinker or theologian about the health of the pastor, the state of the church and what it looks like to love well and lead faithfully.

Download Here | Loving-Kindness Meditation

Find a variety of free practices and more information on self-compassion here.

Joseph Yoo of MinistryMatters wonders about Pastor's Office Hours: Time to Cut Back?

Person in deep imagination

Episode 84: “Cultivating and Nurturing the Pastoral Imagination” featuring Eileen Campbell-Reed

What is pastoral imagination? And how can it be nurtured by clergy and laity? We speak with Eileen Campbell-Reed about how clergy can cultivate and nurture pastoral imagination in order to address conflict, experience joy, and develop a deep, wise knowing.

Departure: Why I Left the Church by Alexander Lang

  • Sep 2, 2023 / Updated: Dec 21, 2023 - 12 min read
  • Explores:
  • The Great Pastor Resignation
  • 1000 Bosses
  • Unrealistic Expectations
  • Unseen Damage
  • Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
  • The Final Service

LogoThe Being Here podcast explores real world issues and topics important to faith community professionals. In "Overcoming Compassion Fatigue”, host Rev. Melissa Pohlman and Mayo Clinic hospital chaplain, Rev. Corrine Thul, discuss strategies for caring for yourself while caring for others in difficult times.

Rest Supports Grieving: Grief Rituals blog post from April 8, 2020 by Tricia Hersey - read it!!!

Cohorts & Support Groups

BENEDICTINE CARE WELLNESS PROGRAM

Benedictine CARE integrates Contemplative Practices, the Benedictine Monastic Heritage, and Therapeutic Lifestyle Programming.

Old habits, choices we no longer want to make, over indulgences, and living within a loud culture all amplify internal static that makes it almost impossible to hear, to listen, to our embodied true selves.

Monthly gatherings are enrolling at all times for both in-person and online participation.

$89/month

Learn more and register here.

Mindful Leaders Lounge is a supportive conversation space for leaders who are working on themselves so that they can be creative, mindful, adaptive and resilient through change. Part of her Defy the Trend Community, it is moderated by Nicole Havelka of Nicole Havelka Consulting. Learn more at defythetrend.com.

Nicole also offers self-care coaching sessions. Learn more here.

ImageConvergence offers both On-Demand Learning (including FaithLead’s, National Faith Leaders Reflect on a Global Pandemic and Being Grateful in Difficult Times: An Online Journey with Barbara Butler Bass) and Executive Coaching for congregational leaders.

Post-Election Self-Care

Thanks to Mennonite pastor, liturgist, and creative, Joanna Harader for sharing this Post-Election BINGO card:

Download it here.

Websites & Curricula

Mental Health Technology Transfer Center offers numerous Mental Health Toolkits, including:

 

The Embodied Path Book Launch, Open Book, Minneapolis, December 6 2022 |  AllEvents.inTelling the Story of Your Body for Healing and Wholeness

Our bodies have a story to tell. When we turn toward our bodies with curiosity and reverence, we honor those stories, embrace our inner dignity, and make space for more agency. Sharing our bodies’ stories helps us feel seen so that, little by little, society’s limiting master narratives can shift so that more bodies feel safe and beautiful and have a sense of belonging.

Resources include:

Take care of yourself and/or a colleague or loved one with ConseCrate's curated gift boxes, shipped monthly!

Improv Therapy Group

Improv Therapy Group has developed a curriculum specifically for members of the clergy. The class uses improv to explore emotional intelligence, resilience, and increased creativity. The concepts will assist with your work with congregants as well as co-workers.

All classes meet on ZOOM.

is all about caring for pastoral care providers. They have numerous opportunities for self-care, personal growth, new learning and more, including:

  • Renewing Leadership: A cohort-based group facilitated by certified coaches Deborah Rundlett and Okokon Udo, Renewing Leadership includes a 360 assessment and a 1-on-1 coaching session.

  • UnMasking Discovery: A Journey of Identity, Voice, and Impact: a journey of social action and personal transformation in which you are invited to examine the masks you’ve had, to re-discover your authentic self, and to create a new way of being in the world.

  • A second series of Conversations on Race focusing on the topics of Changing Self, Changing Community, and Changing Systems.

  • Clergy Consultation Groups: confidential space to share wisdom, learn from each other, exchange ideas, and process experiences of ministry during the pandemic; facilitated by experienced LeaderWise staff. Groups will meet for eight sessions either weekly, every other week, or monthly.

  • Beyond: The Art & Soul of Re-Creation: a four-month learning community intended for pastors and leaders, circles of five to eight, committed to valuing and fostering personal and social transformation within self, congregation, and community; a fourfold focus seeks to honor the shared wisdom, intelligence, and creativity toward embracing our changing culture with care.

Bearing Witness offers resources for supporting whistleblowers in the workplace, governmental agencies, and congregational settings.

Video & Webinars

Katherine Cherian demystifies Advanced Care Planning.

Learn how to have more choice and control for your future healthcare decisions - and how you can support community members in the same.

Discover an outline of the process of advanced care planning including how to choose a healthcare agent, how to explore goals, and how to manage documents.

Katherine Cherian has been an acute care physical therapist for 28 years and currently has a consulting business including facilitating advanced care planning conversations. She is a Respecting Choices© certified facilitator for person-centered advanced care planning.

shared Building Resilience webinars for faith leaders

is a free seven-part on-demand video teaching series from Carey Nieuwhof.

for personal growth and continuing education pertinent to COVID-19 days and beyond.

The Wellness Recovery Action Plan® or WRAP® is a prevention and wellness process anyone can use to get well, and stay well. Create your own wellness plan in this online seminar. Registration is required.

In Our Library

Cover Image          Faithful and Fractured: Responding to the Clergy Health Crisis - Kindle  edition by Proeschold-Bell, Rae Jean, Byassee, Jason. Religion &  Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.     Feed My Shepherds: Spiritual Healing and Renewal for Those in Christian  Leadership: Flora Slosson Wuellner: 9780835808101: Books - Amazon     Cover Image     Healed, Restored, Forgiven     Healing Liturgies for the Seasons of Life          Healing Worship | Purpose and Practice (Epperly)          Front Cover Preview Image - 1 of 16 - Refill: Meditations for Leading with Wisdom, Peace, and Joy     Speaking to Silence: New Rites for Christian Worship and Healing  -     By: Janet S. Peterman     SPIRITUAL PRACTICES FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP     Stitches by Anne Lamott     Cover Image     RevGals book cover     Book - Paperback