Coming from a social work background the words best practice immediately place thoughts of doing the best for the client. In ministry the slant is a little different in that the focus is changed from me and the client transaction to one that includes God and faith.
This is the starting point for me as I explore best practice in a ministry setting. It raises the question of what am I doing? Or, is this the best that I am doing? How can I look to see what God is doing and is my best practice fitting in with what God is doing? And many, many others.
This reflection leads to a challenging point: is my best practice the best for God, best for me or best for those who I work with? Is it possible to be best in all three areas at once or is there some compromise or give necessary?
This paper looks at best practice in dealing with the tension of self care and serving others in long term ministry and what is necessary to maintain health, family, a spiritual life and the ministry to which I am called.
Why it is that long term committed people in youth ministry, children’s ministry or family ministry are few in numbers? Many would say various things like they grew up and got real jobs! They drifted away changed focus and so on. The statistics would say that the Job literally got to them and burned them out. We all know of and hear horror stories of how youth workers are over worked, under paid (if at all) under rated and expected to deliver the Church from its aging self.
A while ago I was the local part time minister of a local congregation in a rural regional small town, notice the use of the word local, for a while I was the local problem solver, local social worker, local suicide prevention expert, local mediation advisor etc because there was no one else for several towns in any direction. Great for my ego but practically not very great for my family, my work or the people I was working with or myself, my workload increased beyond the part time to beyond ….jump to a conclusion here.. I was drawn back to reality when my then 3 year old son said to me “: why don’t we go to the beach any more?”
I decided then with a confronting mirror popped up in front of me that things needed to change, my wife just nodded at the wisdom of my son and I knew that I would have to draw some boundaries around myself and family and learn the art of saying No in a polite but firm way. It took a while for the congregations to catch on that I was part time, it took me a while to not feel guilty about having time to myself and family but the change was needed to allow me to focus on what I could do best. The change that came, after declaring to someone that it was the last Job I wanted, was to take on the Chaplaincy at the local high school which was life giving to me as a Youth Worker and a job that allowed me to draw distinct boundaries of time around myself and family.
It may sound a little crazy that taking on more actually allowed me to do less especially in light of the previous two paragraphs but the reality was that I was able to be away from both forms of work when I was at the other, and they rarely crossed over. The boundaries became distinct and in the eyes of those who were watching I was at work when I wasn’t working. The important matter was that I was able to draw the distinct boundaries and that these were important for my health, my family and the longevity of the ministry that I was called to.
This is a lesson that I keep learning over and over and one that I constantly need to get back to as often as possible because best practice demands that what I do not only is effective for those I am working with, for and alongside but also provides time for my own sake and my family’s.
The church has at times been good at promoting self care and at the same time not very good at promoting self care. Some of the mandatory aspects of ministry involve supervision, professional continuing education and other required aspects of the work, these are very important to provide a safe basis for work and an understanding of the need for continual development as a worker. This paper is not arguing for these things alone but rather the complex interrelationship of what it means for you as a person to feel healthy and whole, as a professional, as a minister, as a family person and so on.
What are key areas of practice that provide wholeness and eventually longevity in ministry? There are many ways of dealing with this issue this paper will deal with the areas of best practice in self care in, Ministry, Spirituality, Personally and family.
Continue reading by downloading the entire essay below.
Download: Best Practice in Self Care by Rev Ernest Sorensen (pdf)
About the Author:
Ernest Sorensen comes from a very dynamic work background with many changes in career and strolls along different pathways of employment, one of these pathways has seen him involved in social and community work for the last 20 years, a qualified social worker and now a specified youth worker working for the South Australian Presbytery and Synod as a Youth Mission Planner, Ernest brings his insights into self care for the worker with Young people and their families.
Ernest’s paper looks at the various aspects of life in ministry including family life and makes some observations about how to look after yourself personally with your family, spiritually and in ministry. Bringing these aspects of life together in a whole picture view of what it means to be practicing the best in self care and presents a challenge for each one of us to consider whether we are choosing to work the best and what impact it may haveonusifwedonot consider each aspect well.
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