George Rowaan

Thanks brothers. I appreciate your comments but want to call us back to my original request:  I'm looking for a word from those who have been there but have healed.  What did you find particularly helpful in the healing process.

I want this to be a positive sharing of how God's grace flowed.

George

Walt:  Thank you for your brave act of sharing this.  It means a lot to me.  It is very timely that I should read your post only a few hours after a session with my own counselor where we talked about self care.  In the case of Pastors and all believers perhaps it should be called soul care.  I am wondering if you found any resources to guide you in this or did you use a spiritual adviser?  This whole area of developing our soul seems to be very thin in our reformed circles.  My couselor said she had a whole coarse in her training on the subject.  I don't remember anything about it during seminary.  Perhaps some on keeping sabbath, but not the importance of self care so much.

Opening this up:  Does anyone have resources they would like to recommend on soul care for Pastors and other care givers?

Following on my own request for helpful resources I just read an article by Dallas Willard:  http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=106

Very good begining point.

Thanks again for your insites Joel.  Ministry with is definately far more rewarding for all those involved however many people who are doing ministry to others or for others think they are doing it with others simply because others are present.  I definetely agree that the relationship of trust is essential also a high level of respect.  As in the case of physicians:  first do no harm.  We have so much to learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I agree, the to and for paridigm emerged from the way in which the great commission was read.  It also comes from colonialism and western and european arogance that prevented us from contextualizing the gospel.  Go to Aftrica and you will find strange transplants, or listen to the story of First Christian Reformed Church in Managua, Nicaragua.  Many missionaries simply did thing the way they were done back home without reflection and certainly without inviting the participation of new believers in shaping their response to the gospel.  

My prayer is that we are now witnessing a sysmic change that will allow all of us to grow up into him who is the head.

Interesting article.  I think there is another direction from which this should be approached.  If we think in terms of church as institution and church as organism it is the institutional church that often gets bogged down in being "church" so that it cannot affectively bring community transformation.  But if each part of the church that is a living body is doing its part then those parts will be touching and transforming the places where they live.  To often we as church end up withdrawing from the communities we live in.  We develop freindships at church only and shun non believers or believers who are different from us.  We often leave our communities and drive to another location where our congregation meets. These factors don't make community engagement and transformation easier.  How would you feel if people who don't care enough about you to live among you start trying to fix you?  

Just some thoughts.

If the institutional church feels good about itself just because it is preaching the word it has to check the influence that word is having in and on the body.  You might think you are eating a balanced diet but if you show signs of malnutrition something is definately wrong.  The body is made of many parts and is only doing what it is intended to do when the parts are doing their part.  The instituional church must work for the full engagement of the organism in the life of the community and the world.

Steve:  Our brains must be on the same wavelength.  I have been thinking about some of these exact same things lately.  Perhaps another word to include would be "global"  how does a local church or a small group within the local church or even and individual as part of the global body of Christ find their fit.  We are so connected in our day and age but still very disconnected from walking and working together as one body.  In my humble opinion being missional means seeing the great commission not as given to me or my small group or my congregation but given to "the church" of which I am a part, meaning that global church.  How does each memeber of that body do its part to fulfill that one mission?  A missional follower of Jesus needs to serve within the entire body.  That means supporting and encouraging brothers and sisters who have dedicated their lives to serving in another context.  It also means supporting and encouraging brother and sister followers next door and around the world ans together we engage in the one mission.  One of the things we need to do as leaders is help people connect with others in the global church.

Well that's my thoughts.

George

Having had the opportunity to visit the Nehemiah centre a few years ago and witness the powerful way in which cooperation between ministires multiplies affectiveness I thank God for this one question that bridged the gap and made such a crucial beginning.  I am also thankful to hear that this model is now being replicated in other places and having the same powerful affect.  We need far fewer walls and far more bridges of freindship and cooperation.

Joel:  More excellent food for thought.  I just finished eating some Polish perogees and now am digesting the rich flavours of what you have shared with us.

I think one of the biggest blessings we have to share with the church world wide is the education many of us have been priveleged to receive in North America and in most of Europe but this is also our biggest stumbling block.  We think of ourselves as knowing so much that we don't think we have anything to learn from anyone with less education no matter where that person might be from, next door or on the other side of the globe.  

Dialoge is essential within the body of Christ. Each one contributing.  Each one attentively listening to what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

I share your dream!

Well Joel, I think Partners Worldwide is an excellent example of attemting dialogue.  Books like When Helping Hurts also point us in the right direction.  Both of those are in the area of international development but certainly that is part of the church's mission.  I also believe that generations of younger Christians are far more engaged in the world wide dialogue or at least prepared to be.  I think there are some bold steps that we can all take to embrace our brothers and sisters and learn from one another.  

On a similar note, I just saw the movie "The Help".  A line that has really stuck with me comes from one of the maids.  She says:  "No one ever asked me what its like to be me".  I think that is a powerful invitation to all of us to ask one other person who is different from us this question and then truly listen.