Pastoral care for clergy: The need, some program directions and desired outcomes among ministers of Churches of Christ in Western Australia

The purpose of this study was to consider the pastoral care needs of Churches of Christ ministers working in parishes, propose some directions that a programmed approach to that pastoral care could take, and outline the kinds of desired outcomes to be looked for among them in Western Australia. It was demonstrated that, as with other helping professionals within the Human Services domain, ministers experience stressors which impinge on their well-being and their effectiveness as care-givers. This study examined the different contexts within which ministers must function, examining the complexities of their duties, the hazards they face and the effects these have on their well-being and the performance of their duties within their professional and personal lives. The study looked at how to respond to the needs of this workforce, proposing some directions in which the program of pastoral care could take at each of the three levels identified as significant, the structural level, the professional level and the personal level. These were proposed in the context of an articulation of the desired outcomes that should result from the establishment of those systems of care. Finally, consideration was given to possible evaluators that would demonstrate the extent to which those desired outcomes had been achieved. While these were not the primary focus of the study, consideration of evaluators is a necessary adjunct to any programmatic approach to pastoral care.

Grantor dc:publisher

Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia

Year dc:date

1997

Author dc:creator

• Clapton, John A.

• Clergy
• Job stress
• Counseling of.
• Christianity

Repository record dc:identifier

https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/901

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ro.ecu.edu.au:theses-1902