wrestling inspired faith

I was struck by Bishop Ann Svennungsen’s recent blog post about the need to address the shortage of pastors facing the ELCA.  I agree with Bishop Svennungsen that pastoral ministry is a wonderful vocation.  Like many pastors and deacons in the ELCA past and present, I have experienced the “joys and wonders” of rostered ministry in this church in my 10 years since ordination.  What I find even more fulfilling is that I have grown as a person of faith and in my relationship with God, living alongside God’s people, in good and bad moments and everything in between.

              In her writing, Bishop Svennungsen asked an important question that motivated me to write this response.  “How can we better affirm and lift up the joy and wonder of the pastoral calling?” We need to be invested in responding to this question.  However, we also need to be equally invested in establishing better resources and means of caring for rostered leaders throughout their time in ministry.  In her post, Bishop Svennungsen articulates the demands placed upon rostered leaders and that compensation will not compare with what other professions may offer.  Recent surveys and studies of clergy burnout and the emerging reality of moral injury make it no secret that rostered ministry takes a toll on one’s physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual well-being.  What would it mean that while encouraging persons to consider a calling to ministry as a pastor or deacon, we could also point to concrete ways the church will collectively care for and support them?

              “Self-care” is a popular response to the care of pastors and deacons.  Unfortunately, self-care fails as a response because most congregations do not or cannot afford to offer resources necessary to support self-care.  Furthermore, institutional attitudes toward self-care tend to place the sole responsibility for it upon the individual, and thus becomes another obligation on an already overfilled plate of them.  Self-care alone as a response to care does not reflect the ELCA’s commitments to accompaniment, walking in solidarity with, and mutual interdependence with God’s people.  I believe if we’re to attract people to a life of ministry, then the congregations of this synod need to collectively improve upon how we live out this theological commitment in our care of rostered leaders.  I see no better time, as we discern the election of a new bishop, to come together to enact better means of supporting both current and future rostered leaders. What might this look like?  I suggest four areas of investment.

• An investment in a single standard of healthcare for all rostered leaders.  For a first-call rostered leader with a family, the suggested healthcare plan through Portico is approximately a quarter of their financial compensation (considering salary and healthcare only).  As a “suggestion,” there’s no obligation for a congregation to provide that standard.  For otherwise healthy congregations with limited financial resources, this means either paying for a standard that is barely within or exceeds their means, or negotiating something much lower than the suggested standard.  Given the reality that first-call leaders will likely serve in congregations with limited financial resources, what would it look like for the congregations of this synod collectively to subsidize costs so that a single standard of healthcare is provided for every rostered leader serving under call?  Congregations with the means to do so could offer a better plan.  However, assured that an acceptable standard of healthcare is provided, it frees candidates to consider a wide array of ministry settings to serve in.
  
  
• An investment in sabbaticals for every rostered leader who is eligible.  When offered, rostered leaders can receive a paid sabbatical when they complete a set period of service, typically between 5-7 years.  However, the reality is that in many of the synod’s congregations, paid sabbaticals are not offered.  What would it look like for the synod, through the combined contributions of its congregations, to offer a sabbatical to every rostered leader who completes a defined period of service in a congregation?  Assuring paid sabbaticals communicates to prospective rostered leaders another avenue of care would be offered to them regardless of where they serve and encourages them to remain in those calls for longer periods.
  
  
• An investment in education on integrated mental health pastoral care.  Current research on mental health care shows that an active spiritual life significantly improves psychological health.  Today, the legacy pastoral care model of “3 sessions and refer” still exists.  However, with an overwhelmed mental healthcare system in which wait times for appointments can last up to months, rostered leaders and faith communities can play an important role in supporting people’s mental health.  At the same time, rostered leaders need to be trained to integrate their pastoral care responsibly and lead their congregations to do the same.  What types of continuing education can the synod offer and develop to increase rostered leaders’ knowledge and competency in this area of pastoral care?  Investment in professional development in this critical area signals to those considering ministry to pastoral care, but also advocacy, social justice, and community development.
  
  
• An investment in a full-time chaplain to serve the synod’s rostered leaders.  In institutional settings, chaplains are more than just those who provide pastoral care and the occasional religious rite or ritual.  Chaplains are also keen observers who can provide sound moral and ethical advisement that empowers healthier institutional cultures and systems. They also provide a resource “outside the system, within the system” where people can seek confidential care (within limits of State mandatory reporting).  It is unfair and often a conflict of interest to expect a Synodical Bishop or their staff to provide this level of pastoral care to the Synod’s rostered leaders.  For all of these reasons, the synod would be well served by a full-time chaplain who serves the synod’s rostered leaders and advises the bishop on matters of their well-being. What kind of message would a collective investment for a chaplain send to those considering a call to rostered ministry?

In closing, I offer this open letter as a conversation starter.  It is not an indictment on any one person or congregation.  I do believe, however, that as we commit to encouraging and raising up new leaders to serve in the ELCA, we also have a moral responsibility to care for and support them in real ways, and not just give lip service to it.  As a church rooted in accompaniment, solidarity, and mutual interdependence, congregations can no longer continue to operate as totally independent entities.  Caring and supporting all rostered leaders, regardless of where they serve, is a collective responsibility that if we take it seriously, will send a powerful message that will lead to more people considering a call to rostered ministry to say “yes!”

Humbly,

Rev. Aaron Fuller, DMin
Pastor, Bratislava International Church
Rostered leader in the Minneapolis Area Synod