When members have problems, they seek out the pastors for counseling. When pastors have problems,who they turn to for counseling? "Pastors are supposed to be servants of the Most High, hence they should not have problems", some people naively think. Others think that pastors go direct to God to solve their problems. Unless pastors intentionally build close friendships with other pastors, they do not have someone to talk to when they have problems in their lives. After all, they are not obligated to do so. In this respect, most counseling Code of Ethics require counselors to seek counseling when their personal problems affect their work. For example, section C.2.g of the American Counseling Association states:
"Counselors are alert to the signs of impairment from their own physical, mental, or emotional problems and refrain from offering or providing professional services when such impairment is likely to harm a client or others. They seek assistance for problems that reach the level of professional impairment, and, if necessary, they limit, suspend, or terminate their professional responsibilities until such time it is determined that they may safely resume their work."
I have yet to find any Code of Ethics for pastors that recommend such requirement. If we factor this into the employment contract, pastors will be able to seek counseling and the church pays for it. But again, which church will ever pay for their pastor to seek counseling? Some churches will send their pastors for counseling when they have fallen into some moral failure while others just sack them. Hence, what do pastors do when they have problems? Depending on their personalities, they either confide with their friends or keep quiet and suffer in silence.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
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1 comments:
I think your idea about a code of ethics for pastors is spot on. I was just reading a leadership book: "Leading Out of Who You are" and it basically paraphrases the same thing about having an awareness of one's dysfunctions or issues that arise out of one's childhood and these are covert impulses that drive the way we behave and lead.
But we have the issue of shame and denial. It is very real in our Asian culture as i am sure with other cultures as well. While you pointed out that churches may not pay for pastors to seek counseling, I came across a case of a church where the elders rallied around and offered to pay for whatever costs of counseling to be conducted overseas in order to protect the pastor's "face." But that offer was still rejected by the pastor concerned. The reason what the pastor had friends to turn for help. In the end, it appeared that nothing was done.
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