Much of my ministry here is teaching; at other times my role as a pastor comes to the forefront. Yet another significant aspect of my work is related to organizing educational processes; one of the concrete ways I try to do that is to put together the right students with the right teachers.
This year this included two important events – the September seminar on men's ministry (see below), and the first in a series of seminars on pastoral care. The approach for the latter is called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and it is what most pastors in America go through as a part of their Master of Divinity program. A long-time friend of our church from Germany, Kurt Schmidt, is a CPE teaching supervisor; he and I have been working together to attempt to not only run the full course of CPE, but also to go further and train a few teaching supervisors who can act as founding members of the Russian Association of Pastoral Care and Counseling.
While it will take a couple of years to reach this goal, I could hardly be more pleased with our progress so far. The group of participants was made up of 12 men and women (half pastors and half lay leaders), most of whom had previously expressed to me their desire to get further education in this area. Yet the approach to learning in CPE is so different than the lecture approach that is familiar to them; we were not sure how smoothly the course would run. Additionally when a group comes together to work on pastoral care, difficult issues (including deeply personal ones) are raised; it is typical for there to be resistance, tension and conflict as part of the process. To our surprise, however, all of the participants displayed openness to one another, to a new kind of learning, and to the self-discovery that is necessary for quality pastoral care. The 10 days they spent in Novosaratovka were very productive.
While students evaluations in Russia tend to avoid specifics, after this course I saw a pattern of positive results: “I learned how to listen;” “I saw how important it was to avoid giving direct advice and to instead accompany the care-seeker as he/she finds his own solutions;” “I now realize that... empathy is at the center of pastoral care.” “My job as a pastoral caregiver is to be a sojourner along the path of life that the Lord has given us.”
For some of the participants the seminar was transforming on a personal and professional level: “I understood that pastoral care is interesting to me, is a gift God has given to me;” “Before this seminar I saw pastoral care from a different perspective and what I learned is really valuable and important;” “This... was a turning point in my understanding of the means and methods of pastoral ministry;” “I thought about...aspects of my life that I hadn't considered before;” After this seminar “I feel healthier spiritually and physically. I've been sleeping like I haven't slept since I was a child. Many thanks once again for accompanying me on the way, for caring about the healing of my soul.”
By the end of the seminar the participants were so motivated to continue their studies that we moved up the schedule; while I had planned on one seminar in each of the next two years, we've decided that it is desirable and possible to do parts two and three in June and October of 2018.
There are at least another six people waiting to take part in the next round of such a course, so I will continue to pray for Kurt's ability to come to Russia to teach, for the financial gifts to the “Equipping...” program to keep coming in order to make the funding of the seminar possible, and the support of the church's leadership as we attempt to make pastoral care a significant part of the life of our congregations.
Bradn Buerkle
This year this included two important events – the September seminar on men's ministry (see below), and the first in a series of seminars on pastoral care. The approach for the latter is called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and it is what most pastors in America go through as a part of their Master of Divinity program. A long-time friend of our church from Germany, Kurt Schmidt, is a CPE teaching supervisor; he and I have been working together to attempt to not only run the full course of CPE, but also to go further and train a few teaching supervisors who can act as founding members of the Russian Association of Pastoral Care and Counseling.
While it will take a couple of years to reach this goal, I could hardly be more pleased with our progress so far. The group of participants was made up of 12 men and women (half pastors and half lay leaders), most of whom had previously expressed to me their desire to get further education in this area. Yet the approach to learning in CPE is so different than the lecture approach that is familiar to them; we were not sure how smoothly the course would run. Additionally when a group comes together to work on pastoral care, difficult issues (including deeply personal ones) are raised; it is typical for there to be resistance, tension and conflict as part of the process. To our surprise, however, all of the participants displayed openness to one another, to a new kind of learning, and to the self-discovery that is necessary for quality pastoral care. The 10 days they spent in Novosaratovka were very productive.
While students evaluations in Russia tend to avoid specifics, after this course I saw a pattern of positive results: “I learned how to listen;” “I saw how important it was to avoid giving direct advice and to instead accompany the care-seeker as he/she finds his own solutions;” “I now realize that... empathy is at the center of pastoral care.” “My job as a pastoral caregiver is to be a sojourner along the path of life that the Lord has given us.”
For some of the participants the seminar was transforming on a personal and professional level: “I understood that pastoral care is interesting to me, is a gift God has given to me;” “Before this seminar I saw pastoral care from a different perspective and what I learned is really valuable and important;” “This... was a turning point in my understanding of the means and methods of pastoral ministry;” “I thought about...aspects of my life that I hadn't considered before;” After this seminar “I feel healthier spiritually and physically. I've been sleeping like I haven't slept since I was a child. Many thanks once again for accompanying me on the way, for caring about the healing of my soul.”
By the end of the seminar the participants were so motivated to continue their studies that we moved up the schedule; while I had planned on one seminar in each of the next two years, we've decided that it is desirable and possible to do parts two and three in June and October of 2018.
There are at least another six people waiting to take part in the next round of such a course, so I will continue to pray for Kurt's ability to come to Russia to teach, for the financial gifts to the “Equipping...” program to keep coming in order to make the funding of the seminar possible, and the support of the church's leadership as we attempt to make pastoral care a significant part of the life of our congregations.
Bradn Buerkle
No comments:
Post a Comment