A Company of Pastors offers a fresh approach to overcoming the type of loneliness that seems inherent in the lives of religious leaders. The book offers a two-year framework for a clergy support group among pastors. It invites them to practice fun, food, and fellowship as a prophetic witness against all the pressures that seek to set them one against another. It invites clergy to rediscover the support of the beloved community as an antidote to the toxic isolation so frequent among clergy. Do you ever wonder why being a pastor is such a lonely calling? Numerous people surround the pastor many of them both like and admire him or her. Clergy have the privilege of being present at some of the more tender and most intimate moments in people's lives. Most pastors experience great satisfaction in being able to contribute to people's lives. Yet a pastor experiences significant moment of loneliness. Why? Clergy are entrusted with intimate and often painful secrets about other people's lives that they cannot share. As very public figures, they are frequently subject to a variety of often conflicting criticism but rarely have an opportunity to respond. They experience painful trauma, tragedy, and death of many people who they care about. They are expected to assist these people in their grief and confusion but rarely have others to help them respond to their own personal grief. They continually try to balance the tension between what they believe to be true and what will please their main constituency. Frequently they are caught between the needs of their family and the needs of the congregation. They work long hours, experience a roller coaster of emotions, and receive modest pay. Joining with other clergy who understand the complexity of ministry can be a source of support. Sadly many pastors lack the bonds of trust among their colleagues that would allow them to probe the depth of what they are experiencing. For a variety of reasons ranging from ego, competition, theological differences, jealousy, time constraints, geography, and exhaustion, many clergy rarely have "a company of pastors" with whom they can truly share. Like parables in the Bible, this book offers stories drawn from the lives of clergy that can enable pastors to analyze together the stresses and challenges of their calling. I have a passion for all the brave souls who have heard God's call to the ministry. Even though we still wonder at times where ministry will take us, like Abraham and Sarah, we set off on a journey trusting that God knows where we are going. There is no shame in feeling the pain of loneliness in our profession. In fact the better a pastor we are, the more we will absorb the pain in other people's lives and be sensitive to the deeply fractured nature of our society. However, it is important to discover ways that we can process these feelings and not allow them to become toxic in our lives. Whether it is with two or three or even a dozen other clergy, I invite them to make use of this book as a guide for supporting each other in this God initiated adventure of being a pastor. If I can help, please contact me steve@smccutchan.com.
About the Author: Stephen McCutchan, writer, humorist, and advocate for the care of clergy, is a Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister and the author nine non-fiction books, two CDs and a regular blog, www.smccutchan.com, on care of clergy. In the area of fiction, Steve has published on Kindle three volumes, Clergy Tales-Tails: that contain short stories about the complex mosaic of clergy lives as part of his desire "to build respect for clergy, one story at a time." You can also purchase the three volumes in one printed copy with Create Space. His mystery novel, A Star and a Tear, amzn.to/1aTDdgs, explores the symbiotic relationship between sexuality and spirituality. It is the story of a pastor who emerges out of a period of grief caused by his wife's violent death to assist the police in identifying a serial rapist who has a religious fixation. To solve the mystery, the pastor must confront an embarrassing chapter in his own history. His hope is that clergy groups, book clubs, and church discussion groups will make use of his various books to facilitate a discussion about how we can have healthy clergy and churches. View his website at www.smccutchan.com.